Break
by Pureya
Summary: When Voldemort’s return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student, must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand. HP X B
1. Chapter 1

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student, must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it . Taichou means captain, soutaichou means captain-commander. I'm using the English words in this chapter, since they are in England and trying to make things easy for Dumbledore to understand.

Also, I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts.

Warnings: Aside from my spelling errors, there shouldn't be anything.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

Chapter One

The room bathed in a red light that flooded in from the open window. It warmed the old man, whose face showed the strain of the years he had lived. This day had been as tiring as many before it, maybe even more so. A soft sigh escaped the man as he put down a parchment. It seemed that this year the task would be impossible even for him.

Giving up, the old man leaned back in his chair, set down his glasses, closed his eyes and stroked his beard. He couldn't help it, this case he would just have to give to the ministry this year. This could prove to be a major setback in his plans.

"Albus Dumbledore, I presume?" With a start the old man drew a thin piece of wood from the pocket of the robes he wore, pointing straight to a man that had most certainly not been there a minute ago. The said man was on his knee, bowing respectfully. The older man regarded the young one for a moment before lowering his wand and relaxing slightly.

"That is correct."

"I am Kentaro, fifth seat of the second division of soul society. I have come here on the behalf of captain-commander Yamamoto. He wishes to speak with you." Dumbledore regarded the man carefully. He wore foreign set of clothes, the kind Dumbledore had always connected with Japanese history and samurai tales. He was young and obviously talented (if the rank wasn't enough proof, the way he had entered his office so silently spoke volumes). The sword that the young man had did not go unnoticed either.

"I have not heard of Soul Society nor of Yamamoto. What reason do I have to trust you, a complete stranger, especially in these dangerous times?" The young man named Kentaro flinched a little.

"I understand your concerns, yet I am not in the position to disclose the information that you seek. But I assure that if you'll speak with Yamamoto-_sou-taic_— I mean the captain-commander, your question will be answered." Dumbledore regarded the young man for a while longer.

"Fine. I will meet this Yamamoto. When does he wish to see me? I must say that my calendar is rather full. After all, the school year is starting soon."

"Do you have time right now? Captain-commander is also a very busy man and he wished for me to inform of your decision as soon as possible." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"Well certainly… by what means?"

"This will take only a short moment." And Kentaro shut the window, pulled the curtains tight and took and strange device from his back pack. He put it against the wall and Dumbledore watched in silent awe as the device sprouted roots and grew greater and greater. Soon it covered the entire wall, roots digging deeply in its smooth surface. In the middle was what a muggle would call a TV-screen. It flickered to life and Dumbledore was staring at a face more ancient than his own. Kentaro moved aside and bowed respectfully. "This is the man, Yamamoto_-sou-taichou_." Dumbledore bowed.

"I am Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts. It is nice to make your acquaintance"

"I am Yamamoto, Captain-Commander of Soul Society." The ancient man nodded in acknowledgement, and when their eyes met, Dumbledore felt like the eyes could see right through him. This unsettled him greatly, after all, he had heard that he himself had that effect usually and just now realized uncomfortable it was to be the object of such gaze.

"During this meeting I shall tell you things that must stay a secret. The words you hear here today must be carried with you to your grave. This I must ask of you, since usually sharing this information with a mortal is forbidden." Dumbledore stayed quiet and weighted his options.

He could ask the man to tell what this was all about before he gave his answer, but he doubted that he'd be granted with an answer. It'd probably just anger the Captain-Commander. He could of course say that he couldn't promise before he heard what this was all about. This would have the same outcome as the former solution. It seemed he had no choice but to accept. Not that he minded that much, he had already grown curious. One thing the man had said bothered him though…

"Information that it forbidden from mortals, you say? You must know what such words make a mere mortal man think…"

"Such matters will be explained if you choose to accept."

"Fine then. I shall accept your conditions. But I'm afraid that making an unbreakable vow or an oath of secrecy with you through this… device is impossible." The Captain-Commander nodded, the corner of his lips rising just a bit.

"For now I will trust your word. Kentaro-kun can make such vows with you later."

"Hai, Yamamoto_-sou-taichou_!"

"So, I must say I am rather curious about this…" Dumbledore raised his hands to indicate Kentaro and the TV-device had taken over his wall.

"Let me start with a summary of our existence, but I cannot go to details. As you may have already realized from the name, Soul Society, all of us are indeed dead. We are _shinigami_, death reaper might be a more familiar term for you. Soul Society is the place that plus souls go to, after being sent from the real world by a _shinigami_."

"Plus souls?"

"Souls that haven't been touched by evil, you could say…" Kentaro said, it was obvious to Dumbledore that Kentaro didn't tell the whole truth, but decided that pursuing the matter was not wise for the time being. Yamamoto nodded.

"I see… please, do go on."

"The real world and Soul Society depend on each other. Neither can exist without the other and changes in other affect the other as well. Now to the real issue at hand. I take that you know a young man by the name of Cedric Diggory?"

Dumbledore was more than surprised to hear the name but nodded all the same. "Yes, he was a student of this school. A fine young man who passed away this June…" Yamamoto nodded.

"In Soul Society, we keep the records of everyone that has died in your world and arrived in ours. In Diggory's files we discovered something that really concerned us. The cause of his death was similar to many of others some fifteen years ago." Yamamoto's shoulders seemed to have sagged a little, making the already old man seem even more so. Dumbledore let out a sigh and let his own weariness show.

"Yes, Lord Voldemort has come back I'm afraid. He was revived from his ghost like state last June, the very same day he killed Cedric with the killing curse, avada kedavra."

"We talked to Diggory and heard that there is a boy in your school that has caught Voldemort's attention and that he is most likely trying to kill the boy."

"The boy's name is Harry Potter. And indeed he is a pupil of this school. But you say you talked to Cedric? How is he?" Yamamoto didn't seem pleased with the question and stayed quiet for a long time. Finally he let out a sigh.

"Dumbledore-san, I understand your feelings but there are things that I cannot tell you for it'd break our laws. This conversation that we have had so far has already broken most of them." Dumbledore lowered his gaze and nodded.

"I understand. I apologize for asking such a question." Dumbledore raised his eyes to meet the older mans. "Please continue." Yamamoto cleared his throat and Dumbledore noticed something: someone had just moved in the dark background of the screen.

"Yes, let us continue. The shinigami who have been positioned in England have reported that deaths by the killing curse have started to appear once more. A death by killing curse is very tiring and troublesome for us shinigami, for sending such a soul requires a special soul burial that only highly ranked shinigami can perform. Normally we wouldn't be as bothered but a war is coming up and we do not have enough man power to take care matters on your end. "

"But you must have a solution since you have contacted me." Yamamoto nodded and looked behind him. And like Dumbledore had suspected, there was another person with the Captain-Commander, a young boy with snow white hair and large teal eyes. The boy bowed deeply.

"This is Hitsugaya Toushirou, tenth-division captain."

"It is nice to meet you, Hitsugaya Toushirou. My name is Albus Dumbledore."

"Nice to meet you Dumbledore-san." The boy's voice didn't suit his young appearances, Dumbledore decided. Yet if the boy really was dead, then who knew how old he really was?

"Hitsugaya here has the before mentioned abilities, so I will be sending him to England to deal with the problem. However, he is a captain and therefore an important part of our military. We would like to have this over and dealt with before the war starts. I would like you to enroll him in your school so he can be near this Potter boy. This way it'll be easier for him to find this Voldemort and dispose of him."

"I see… We could use an ally at the present moment, since it seems that it'll be a three-way war for now. Harry will be attending fifth year… But I doubt that anyone would believe Hitsugaya to be fifteen years old. He could pass for a first year though." Dumbledore was sure that he'd seen the boy twitch when he said this. Dumbledore couldn't help the small smile that crept on his lips.

"It won't matter. Just to have him in the school will be enough. I have great trust in Hitsugaya-_taichou_. I think this will be enough for today. Hitsugaya_-taichou_ will arrive there in two days of time. You may ask more of the mission from him upon his arrival."

"May I suggest something? It might not be a good idea for me to meet him in the open or someone might start suspecting that something is going on. I am quite hated at the moment you see, and I am also being shadowed almost where ever I go." Yamamoto raised his eyebrows.

"I understand. What do you suggest?"

"I shall send a colleague of mine to meet with Hitsugaya in The Leaky Cauldron that is situated in London. I shall tell him that Hitsugaya is a new, muggle born student who needs help with getting his school supplies. This way he'll get more information on the magical world and we can talk safely after the school year has started."

"Yes, it sounds agreeable. Do you consent, Hitsugaya-taichou?" The white haired boy nodded.

"Yes."

"It's decided then! I'll give Kentaro here the admittance letter; he can surely deliver it to Hitsugaya?" Dumbledore was smiling.

"Yes sir!" Kentaro replied

"Do you have money, or do you require the school's help?" Now Yamamoto laughed a short amused laugh.

"Do not worry, we will manage that part ourselves!" Dumbledore nodded. "It has been nice talking to you Dumbledore, I hope your war shall end soon, for both of our sakes."

"Thank you. I hope you will be victorious in yours, when the time comes." Yamamoto nodded and the screen flickered once before it turned to black. Dumbledore stared at the empty screen for a while before turning to Kentaro. "I take it that now would be time to make the oath of secrecy?"

"Yes, you are quite right." Kentaro rose from his kneeled position and watched amazed as the wizard literally drew a chair with the thin wand he had had in his hand the whole time. Dumbledore motioned for Kentaro to sit and then took his own place behind his table.

"Before we start, would you like a cup of tea and a sherbet lemon?"

*********  
So, should I quit before I even start or should I start writing the next chapter? Leave a review and tell me what you think.

-Pureya


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
Taichou means captain  
Soutaichou means captain-commander  
Shinigami means death reaper  
Seireitei is where the shinigami reside  
Soul Society consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read.

Warnings: Aside from my spelling errors, there shouldn't be anything. I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

Chapter 2

The Leaky Cauldron.

That's what the sign said, and that's what read in the letter he had received from the headmaster. Hitsugaya decided to check the sign once again.

The Leaky Cauldron.

Yep, there was no denying it, this was the place. What a disappointment. He had expected, no, wished for something a bit better, not a small shabby looking pub. With his young looks, would he even be allowed to go inside? People surely would notice a clearly underage looking boy going to a pub… But this was where he was supposed to go and he was already late, thanks to Matsumoto's farewell party (that most likely resulted in many people not faring so well the next day). So with a sigh Hitsugaya slung his bag over his shoulder, put the letter back in his pocket and started towards the small pub.

The pub looked just as shabby on the inside as it did on the outside. It was dark and somewhat gloomy, but Hitsugaya guessed that to a regular customer it could also seem cozy. The people in the pub matched its image perfectly, Hitsugaya thought. Their fashion sense seemed to consist of cloaks, funny looking hats and weird accessories. He must have looked like the strange one to them since all heads were turned towards him as he walked to the counter.

"Welcome! How can I help you?" The barman asked. He was almost bald old man, who was missing a few teeth. He fit like a glove with the theme of the pub in Hitsugaya's opinion.

"I have a meeting with a person called Nymphadora Tonks, do you know if she's already here?"

"Oh yes! I think she just went to the bathroom a while ago! You could probably wait there at the corner table, that's her drink on the table!" The barman smiled a wide less than toothy smile and pointed at the table. Hitsugaya glanced at the pointed direction and nodded.

"Thank you"

Again he felt eyes on his back when he moved towards the table. Well, it was nothing new for him to be stared at and he had known to expect nothing less in here. White hair was rather rare among the living. Not that it was common in Seireitei either, but having had three (now only two) captains with white hair people no longer reacted as strongly as before.

"Haya there! You must be… umm… heha…" Hitsugaya looked up to see a pink haired young woman extending her hand and obviously struggling with the pronouncing of his name.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou." He didn't take the offered hand but rose and bowed. The woman withdrew hers and surprisingly bowed back.

"Yeah, sorry, it's hard to say!" She smiled apologizing smile and sat down. "I'm Nymphadora Tonks, just call me Tonks! So, Dumbledore asked me to help you get all the stuff you'll need. I heard you'll be staying in here, Dumbledore has booked you a room, did you get the key already?"

"No."

"Well go get it and take your things to your room, I'll wait here and finish my drink, then we can go and get your school things. You can get the key from Tom, he's the bartender." Hitsugaya nodded, got up and walked back to the counter.

"Yes?"

"I was told that there's a room booked for me."

"And your name is?" The man took a small notebook from under the counter and opened it.

"Hitsugaya Toushirou"

"Let's see… here! Room 15, here you go! Up the stairs and fifth door on the right! You can pay when you check out. You'll be staying for two nights, right?"

"Yes"

"Enjoy your stay, if you need anything, just ask me. I'm Tom, by the way!" The barman seemed sincere and Hitsugaya smiled and nodded politely.

"Thank you, Tom-san" Hitsugaya took the key and headed for the stairs. The room was easy to find and the door opened with a small creak. The room was simple and nice. A single bed was positioned in the corner, near the window that showed the busy London people outside. There was also a table, a chair, a small nightstand and rather large green plant. A full body mirror hung near the table. Hitsugaya laid his bag on the bed, took his wallet and put it in his pocket with the letter. Then he went back down. Tonks was still at the table and when she saw him she drank the last of the drink and shuddered a little, her face scrunching.

"Butterbeer, it's really good when you drink it slowly, not so good if you drink it all at once." She explained. Hitsugaya just nodded, he didn't know much about alcohol drinks, having never really tried any, no matter how many times Matsumoto and her gang of fellow drunken vice-captains (mainly Kira, Hisagi, Iba and Renji) had offered him the opportunity. "Okay, do you have your list and money with you?" At his nod she continued: "Good, the entrance to Diagon Alley is in the back, in the courtyard."

They made their way through the pub to a door and through it to a courtyard. There was a brick wall, some bins and a stray cat that hissed at them. "Okay, you need a wand to get into the diagon alley this way." She pulled her wand from her pocket. "You need to tap the right brick with your wand, you can find the right brick by counting three up from the dust bins and then two across, then just tap the wall three times, like so…" She tapped the wall three times. The bricks started to move on their own and made an archway. Hitsugaya stared in muted awe. "Well, let's go! We probably have to go change your money in the bank, or….?" Hitsugaya's attention snapped back at her to find her looking at him.

"Uh…" He struggled to remember what the woman had said while he had been starting at the busy street that had appeared in front of him. "Yes, I only have yen on me…" Tonks started to walk without saying a word, only humming to herself and Hitsugaya followed her while looking around and trying to memorize everything.

After a while they reached the stairs of a large white building with ugly creatures guarding the bronze doors. The creatures bowed when they entered the building only to find another set of doors, silver this time. There was also a warning for those with evil intentions, but Hitsugaya didn't pay much attention to it, he had no intention of visiting this place again. Without a pause they continued to a great hall with many ugly creatures, all of them going around their business. Tonks led him to a counter. She smiled brightly at the creature, whose facial expression gave the impression that there was something disgusting under his overly large nose.

"Hi! My friend here wants to change currency!" The creatures small sharp eyes sifted from her to Hitsugaya, who answered the cold stare with a look of disinterest.

"Which currency and sum?" It asked, the words slow and calculated. Hitsugaya didn't like the creature at all. It reminded him too much of some of the scientists in the 12th division. 'Kurotsuchi would love to see these creatures… and dissect them' was the weird thought that entered his mind. He shook off the idea of taking one with him as a present to the creepy captain (it could spare him from being a guinea pig in the future). Tonks looked at him, signaling that the rest was really up to him, her being clueless to the sums and such details. So Hitsugaya took a step closer to the counter and addressed the creature.

"Yen, and I've been asked to open an account for the… family. Is it possible?" Soutaichou had decided that it would be wise to make some extra effort just in case they'd have to be in contact with the wizarding world more in the future.

"To rent a vault in Gringotts, one has to be of age." The creature snarled at him, as if offended by the question. Hitsugaya decided to let it go for now, Yamamoto would just have to send someone else in here… not that anyone else could actually get in these parts without a wand… Well, that was a problem that could be sorted out later.

"Fine. In that case I'd like all this to be changed into wizarding money…" He took his wallet and a small bag from his pocket and set them on the counter. The creature opened the bag while Hitsugaya took all the money from his wallet and emptied it on the counter. The wallet's contains were yen but the little bag had ryō in it. Hitsugaya prayed to gods that the creature would not ask anything. He didn't need to worry about Tonks asking any questions since the woman seemed to have short attention span; she was humming to herself and wondering around the hall. And it seemed that he was in luck, the creature just gave him a suspecting look but then asked him to wait for a while.

It didn't take long until the creature came back with a rather large bag of money. He handed the bag to Hitsugaya, telling him the amount, which made absolutely no sense what-so-ever to Hitsugaya. There were some gallons and cycles or something in the bag. However Hitsugaya didn't let this show and thanked the creature, bowed and left the now surprised looking creature in order to find Tonks. She must have noticed that he was ready to go since she beamed at him and led him out of the building.

"I hope you didn't mind his behavior, goblins are all like that, rude. Really good bankers tho, love money and riches and that. But you have to be careful; they can be a bit tricky and greedy at times." Hitsugaya nodded, now knowing that the creatures were goblins. He really hadn't believed in those kinds of creatures… but he hadn't believed in magic either, not before soutaichou told him he was going to learn some. And when soutaichou had told to him of this magical community, he had honestly thought that the old man had finally lost it. But, now that he was here, it was finally starting to sink in. "So whatcha wanna get next?"

He looked at the list in which read all of the necessary items. "Maybe a wand. It's light to carry around while doing all the other shopping."

"Huh, smart kid. Well then it is Ollivander's you want to go to, he makes the best wands! Mine's from there too, pretty much everyone I know has bought theirs from him, although there's this Jerry I know, he bought his from…." The woman continued to blabber all the way to the shop as Hitsugaya silently ignored her. He just nodded or made some small sound to make her believe that he was actually listening to her rant. It was easy, since the woman reminded him a bit of his fukutaichou. Tonks just didn't have the suffocating boobs of doom or the strange need to bury his face in her cleavage like Matsumoto did. "That's Ollivander's shop there."

Hitsugaya looked to where Tonks pointed. What he saw was the last shop, small and shabby with only one window. When they reached the door he could see the writing over it: _Ollivander's: makers of fine wands since 382 BC_. 'Probably still the same shop… it could do with some renovating…' They could hear a small _'ching '_as they entered the shop to find an old man just saying goodbye to some other customers, first years, by the look of them. Hitsugaya looked around. It was as shabby and small on the inside as it looked on the outside. The walls were hidden behind wooden shelves that creaked under the weight of hundreds of brown little boxes. On the ceiling dangled a single light bulb that alone probably couldn't really light up the shop. Most light came from the single window and Hitsugaya wondered how gloomy the shop would look like if it was raining outside.

The old man grinned toothily at them and came forward. "Well if it isn't Nymphadora Tonks! 11 inches, willow and unicorn hair core if I remember correctly, quite a unique combination. And who's this?" The man was old and rather short. He had large silvery eyes that looked at Hitsugaya with interest. This was clearly a man who enjoyed his job and excelled in it.

"Wotcher Ollivander! This is a new student. I was asked to help him with the school stuff, he's muggle born, you see." The woman smiled brightly at the old man who raised his eyebrows. Hitsugaya stepped forward.

"Hitsugaya Toushiro, nice to meet you." The old man gave him no time to bow as he dragged the shinigami to the center of the room and took a long tape measure from the counter. "Now, hold out your wand arm." Hitsugaya blinked. Slightly hesitating, he held out his right arm and watched as the man measured practically everything there was to measure in him. And he would be lying if he said he wasn't at all bothered by the tape measure that now was measuring the space between his eyes (by itself, he might add). The old man was now going through all the boxes that were on the shelves of the store. Soon the man appeared and took the tape measure to his hand, making it lifeless as he set it back down on the counter. On his hand he had a thin wooden stick, a wand.

"Now take this and give it swish." Hitsugaya did as he was told and waved the stick in a long arc, feeling like an idiot. As he waved the wand, the window exploded and all three hit the floor and covered their faces as glass rained down on them. "Absolutely not!" Ollivander cried and took the wand from him as soon as the glass rain stopped. Hitsugaya slowly stood with his mouth open.

"I…I.. I apologize! I am terribly sorry for destroying your window!" He bent to a low bow, feeling horrible, even though he wasn't quite sure what had happened and if the explosion was even his fault. The old man looked at him.

"Oh no, dear boy, no need to apologize, it happens all the time! Now now, get up, we just need to find another wand! This one clearly doesn't suit you…"

*¨*

After many destructive hours, Ollivander sighed and sat down. The shop was a mess, with glass, papers and wands littering the floor. Hitsugaya had tried every single wand in the store, with absolutely no results. Not any good ones at least; there had been many explosions, a plant growing and trying to strangle Ollivander and an exceptionally embarrassing case of wand waving that resulted in Tonks' shirt ripping in two. Hitsugaya had all but thrown the perverted wand away and then he had apologized to her, his face more pink than the scarf that Matsumoto wore. Tonks had said that she wasn't mad, but had fled the building after repairing her shirt. It had taken her two hours to return.

"I admit defeat." Ollivander said as Hitsugaya tried the very last wand and set the chair on fire. Tonks looked concerned.

"So what now?" She asked and put out the fire with her wand. Hitsugaya looked outside, the sun was already setting. There was no way he'd be able to get the rest of his things today. It would have to wait till tomorrow. He turned to look at the old man and felt real bad for him; many clients had come by and Ollivander had been forced to turn them away since it was quite dangerous to be in the store while Hitsugaya tried out wands.

"Well, it seems I have to make you a wand."

"How long will it take?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Usually maybe a week but if I push myself a little harder I can get it done in a couple of days." He smiled and Hitsugaya frowned, he didn't want the old man wearing himself down on his account. But he didn't have much choice, since the school year started in three days. "Well then, I must ask you to give me some of your hair."

"Wha – what?" The request caught Hitsugaya off guard.

"It seems that none of the usual cores we use; dragon heartstring, unicorn hair or phoenix feathers react to your powers well. Ollivander rose from his chair and took a small box from a nearby self and walked towards Hitsugaya. "Now I must make you a wand with a wand core that can bear the explosive amount of power you hold. I need your hair and maybe a few drops of your blood to make that core. I will fuse them with a dragon heartstring to make a core that can filter and focus your powers correctly." Hitsugaya nodded and plucked a few hairs from his head. He put them into the small box that Ollivander had opened for him. Next he bit on his thump, letting a few drops of blood fall down in to vial that Ollivander took from his pocket.

"This should do it. Come back in a couple of days and I'll have it ready for you."

"Thank you very much" Hitsugaya bowed. Tonks opened the outside door and waved her goodbyes to the old man. Hitsugaya followed her. He turned around and bowed again. "I'm very sorry for destroying your shop". Ollivander smiled at him.

"Don't worry, it won't take more than a few waves of my wand and everything's fixed again" He smiled and Hitsugaya nodded.

"Bye" He said and closed the door after him, feeling guilty for leaving the man to deal with the mess alone. He should have at least helped him clear the floor from the glass. Apparently his thoughts could be read from his face, since when Tonks looked at him she put a hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Don't worry, it really happens all the time. When I was buying my wand, I set _him_ on fire. It's real rare that the first wand you try is the right one." She comforted and to Hitsugaya's surprise, he felt a bit better. "But anyway, most of the stores have closed already, and I'm afraid I can't help you tomorrow. I could ask Remus to help you though…"

"No need. Just point out the shops I need to visit and I'll do the shopping myself. "

"Well… if you are sure." Hitsugaya nodded and Tonks showed him all the shops he should visit the following day. Hitsugaya made sure to remember the names of the shops and the route he should take the following day. They slowly made their way back to the Leaky Cauldron's courtyard. Hitsugaya looked as the archway closed itself, hiding the magical street and the few people still walking along it. Tonks turned to look at him.

"Okay, do you need help with something?" Hitsugaya shook his head. He really couldn't think of anything right now, his mind was too full of the new things he had already learned and witnessed. "Well if you need anything, you should just ask Tom. Tomorrow you can ask him to open the archway for you, since you don't have your own wand yet. If you get hungry, you can order food from the bar and uh…. Oh! Do not go to Knockturn Alley! It's no place for kids!" Hitsugaya could not stop his eye from twitching. He hated when he was compared to a helpless child. He felt the urge to go next day to the before mentioned alley just to spite her. But then he would be acting like a child and he would not stoop to that level.

"I'll keep that in mind." And he bowed to the woman. "Thank you for your help, Tonks-san."

"Oh don't mention it! And it's just Tonks. Have a good school year Toushirou!" Tonks waved at him, turned on the spot and disappeared with a loud crack.

"….It's Hitsugaya." This reaction was one he would have to try to get rid of as well. It was after all quite normal for these people to call others by their first names. But the years of correcting Hinamori and Kurosaki had the habit rooted deeply into his behavior. Maybe he could pass it off, if he just made sure to not add the _–taichou_ to the end. He decided to let the matter go for now and headed back inside. The bar was pretty much empty, the only people there were Tom and a veiled witch. They were talking as Hitsugaya walked towards the stairs. Tom looked up and saw the boy.

"You were out all day and didn't get anything?" He asked and Hitsugaya stopped and turned to look at the odd pair of people. He didn't feel like explaining how he had destroyed a shop and left an old man to clean it by himself, so he only nodded. "Oh.. okay then, come back down if you're hungry." Tom turned to the veiled witch again and Hitsugaya started climbing the stairs, heading to his own room. He sighed when he finally collapsed to his bed. If the first day was this tiring, then what would it be like after the school actually started? He would be seen as an eleven year old and treated as such! The idea sent shivers down his spine.

Slowly getting up, he grabbed his bag and opened it. He searched for a small switch that had been hidden in one of the small secret pockets in it. When he finally found it, he turned it slightly, hearing a very quiet 'click'. He then opened the bottom and reached into the darkness that was now in front of him. His hand searched the darkness for a while before hitting something hard. A small smile crept to his lips as he pulled a long katana from the bag. He could feel the consciousness of Hyorinmaru stronger in his mind than all day. The chilling presence of the dragon made him feel much better. He laid the sword on the bed and reached in the bag once more, searching for his pajamas. He pulled a lot of other clothes out of it before finally finding the white pajamas he had been looking for. He glanced at the pile of clothes he had pulled out from the bag. The Shinigami Research and Development Institute had really outdone themselves this time. The realm crossing bag was genius.

The bag had been created for his need of hiding Hyorinmaru, since he couldn't walk into a school full on living children with a sword strapped on his back. Of course he couldn't leave the Zanpaktou in Seireitei, so the Research and Development Bureau had come up with the bag. They had explained to him that they had created a small barrier bubble inside the realm that was between Soul Society and the living world. This bubble was connected to the bag, enabling him to store his things inside the bubble and keeping others away from them. Of course he couldn't let anyone see him pull a sword out of the bag, they'd really wonder about it then. Although now Hitsugaya wondered if it really would be strange to wizards; he wouldn't be surprised if they used similar tactics in their packing.

After stuffing all of his clothes inside the bag again, he turned the switch, closing the small realm gate. He lay down on his back, taking Hyorinmaru in his hands and unsheathing it. He looked at the shining blade and the reflection of his eyes stared back. The hardest part would be the fact that he had to spend so much time away from Hyorinmaru. But it couldn't be helped. He sheathed the Zanpaktou once again and hid it under the covers before rising up and leaving to get something to eat.

Tom was cleaning the tables when Hitsugaya reached the bar. "Hungry?" Hitsugaya nodded. "Well, what can I get you?"

"Uh… what do you have?" Tom smiled as Hitsugaya sat down. He seriously had no idea what people ate in Europe and he had a hunch that wizards had their very own culinary world as well.

"I'll bring you something good."

"Okay thanks." While waiting, Hitsugaya's thoughts drifted to those who he had left behind. Hinamori had actually cried. Briefly Hitsugaya wondered why since they had drifted further apart since Aizen's betrayal. But he wasn't being fair, Hinamori had been fooled and Aizen had played with her feelings. He shouldn't be angry with Momo for trusting her captain. He should be mad with himself for letting her get hurt… No, it was like Matsumoto had said when he had told her how he felt; the ones to blame were Aizen, Gin and Tousen. And she was right and Hitsugaya felt lucky to have her as his fukutaichou; even if she was downright lazy when it came to paperwork.

Suddenly he smirked. He had had nightmares that his office was filled with paperwork when he'd come back. Fortunately Yamamoto Soutaichou had allowed Hitsugaya to decide which division's captain would oversee his division. He had thought long and hard about it but had finally reached the perfect solution via eliminating possibilities (not literally, of course). It went without saying that he wouldn't ask Soi Fong, Komamura or Kurotsuchi. They knew way too little of his men and Matsumoto, they would not be able to keep them under control. Shunsui would just party with both divisions, his and Hitsugaya's. Zaraki would also encourage recklessness. Unohana would probably excel, but Hitsugaya knew that she and her hands full of work as it were. So this left only Kuchiki and Ukitake. Normal reasoning led to believing that the strict Kuchiki would be ideal. But Hitsugaya knew better. He was too strict and Matsumoto would not be able to resist the temptation to try to crack his cold exterior. She'd tried to do with Hitsugaya himself for years. No, the way to get Matsumoto do some work did not lie in threats or discipline.

No, it was guilt.

And this was exactly why he had chosen Ukitake. Sure he felt bad for making the sick man work a little harder but he could not afford his division to get out of hand or fall back when it came to paper work. He had of course asked the man if he was okay with it (not mentioning why, of course, it could spoil everything). Ukitake had accepted, happy to be of help to his "fellow shiro-chan". Matsumoto could take yelling in a stride. But she could not bear seeing people suffer. Ukitake was already sick and barely working because of it. Matsumoto knew that if she skipped her work, it would end up on Ukitake's table. She couldn't dump her work on any seated officials since the document that were hers to go through had to be signed by her or by a captain. It was the downside of being a high ranked official; you couldn't give your workload to those that worked under you.

"Here you are" Tom set a plate in front of him and Hitsugaya thanked him. It didn't seem bad. Not nearly as scary as the "food" that Matsumoto and Orihime cooked. This food didn't have fish heads poking from under ice cream at least.

"Itadakimasu" He took a bite and to his delight noticed that it was real good. 'Chicken and potatoes… and is that pumpkin?' Well, it was good. So he allowed himself to fall back to his thoughts, a content smirk on his lips.

* * *

First of all: Big thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter!

The interest towards this story caught me by surprise and made me really happy!  
It also motivated me to write this chapter faster than I normally get anything done! :D

I hope you'll take the time to tell me how you liked this chapter and leave a review.

Thank you for reading!

- Pureya


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
Taichou means captain  
Soutaichou means captain-commander  
Shinigami means death reaper  
Seireitei is where the shinigami reside  
Soul Society consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS!!! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

Oh! And this chapter is ridiculously long, since I had to explain a lot of things to make Hitsugaya's situation clearer. I hope you'll still take the time to read it through, even if it might have a bit of a filler feel to it :/

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 3**

_*__Knock knock*_

Hitsugaya sat up, Hyorinmaru in his hand, ready to draw the blade if needed.

A second later he realized where he was. The room was full of sunlight that stubbornly came through the shut curtains and he could hear Tom on the other side of the locked door.

"Are you awake, Mr. Hitsugaya?"

"Yes! I'm awake… Thank you!" The use 'mister' in front of his name sounded funny to him but he was grateful for the older man's consideration and respect. He could hear Tom moving away, towards the stairs and he silently put Hyorinmaru down. Tom had been nice enough to agree to wake Hitsugaya up when he had asked him about it last night after supper. He had also taught Hitsugaya about their currency. 'Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon, twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle'. Hitsugaya kept repeating it to himself to remember it, since he couldn't find any logic in the counting.

Stretching lazily, he finally got up and took the realm bag from under his bed. He took out his gray jeans and a black golf shirt. Nice and simple, just like he liked it. It was unfortunate that Matsumoto disagreed with him, since she had done most of the shopping for him. He had been way too busy getting prepared and telling his troops the situation to have gone to real world to get some clothes. Matsumoto had been more than happy to go so he had let her. It wasn't that the clothes that she picked didn't look good, it was just that he wasn't really sure how to even put some of them on.

After changing his clothes he gently put Hyorinmaru into the bag. "I know, but I don't have a choice" He said when he more felt than heard a low rumble in the back of his mind. He checked that the realm gate was closed and pushed the bag under his bed. Before he left the room he took a last look around it. He had a nagging feeling that something had changed in it, but could not figure out what. He shrugged and left, locking the door before he headed towards the stairs.

There were no customers in the bar and Tom was just opening the locked door, opening the inn and bar for business. "Had a good night's sleep? Would you like have breakfast? Today we are serving scrambled eggs and sausages."

Hitsugaya nodded and added: "Yes please." And he sat down while Tom disappeared through a door behind the counter. Hitsugaya briefly wondered if there was another member of the staff making the food or if Tom did everything by himself (and did he use magic while cooking?). Now that no one was around Hitsugaya took a small mobile phone from his pocket. He frowned. It was dead. He had first noticed this last night before going to bed when he had tried to contact Soul Society. It bothered him greatly, since he was supposed to contact Soul Society frequently to give reports on the mission. Now he wouldn't even be able to get a warning if a hollow was nearby! He'd have to find a way to contact Soul Society and inform them of the problem. He had thought using an actual telephone to call Kurosaki and ask him to inform Soul Society about his situation. Then he had realized that he didn't know his phone number. With a sigh he put the gadget back into his pocket. He'd let Kurotsuchi hear all about this later. He'd yell at him and then save himself by gifting the madman with a goblin.

*¨*

After breakfast Hitsugaya had gone back to his room to get his money bag and the letter from the school. He had then gone straight back down and asked Tom to open the archway for him. Now he was walking down the already busy street, trying to remember where all the stores that he'd have to visit were. Looking at the list, he had decided that he'd buy a trunk at first; it would be easier to carry the rest of his stuff then.

The shop was large, and all over were trunks and bags of different sizes, shapes and colors. There were quite many people inside, many of them seemingly first years with their parents. Hitsugaya walked around the shop, searching for something to suite his demanding taste. He looked at all the black trunks that he thought would fit all of his stuff. He knew that he could always use his realm bag to make things easier, but someone was bound to notice and question about it later.

"Hello sir! Can I help you?" Hitsugaya turned to look at a rather large old woman smiling at him. The badge on her chest told him that she was a worker here named Midge.

"Yes, I'm looking for a trunk that is light to carry around, can fit all of my school things and is black." The woman smiled widely.

"Well you certainly know what you want. This way please." And Hitsugaya followed the woman a little ways down the aisle, dodging when another woman nearly hit him with a smaller trunk when she took it own from a nearby shelf. "Here are all the trunks that we usually recommend to school students. All of these are standard size, very durable and most of them are black. Prices vary according to the quality." Hitsugaya looked at the price tags. He didn't want anything flashy. Nothing that'd set him even more apart from other students; he knew from experience that he'd stand out enough as it was.

He read some of the labels on the trunks. Some of them had been made from dragon skin and it awed him and after a while, repulsed him. The thought of having a wand that had dragon heartstring core bothered him, but he knew that if he was to go to that school, he needed a strong enough wand. After all, only a dragon could stand up to another dragon and Hyorinmaru's powers were a part of him, whether he carried the Zanpaktou with him or not. But he would not disgrace dragons by buying something like this.

"This is a popular model from MaGiA."She showed him a nice black trunk. "This is a leather covered dorm trunk, it's really sturdy and a favorable size amongst students." She opened the trunk. "There are some smaller pockets here, so you can put all fragile items in these and be sure they'll be unharmed after the journey to school. This trunk also has a weak levitation spell cast on it, so it is light to carry." Hitsugaya nodded. It did seem nice and simple. He looked at the price tag, 19 Galleons and 1 Sickle. He had no idea if that was much or not. But the trunk was what he was looking for.

"I'll take it." The woman beamed and Hitsugaya got the feeling that 19 Galleons and one Sickle was a high price after all.

Soon after Hitsugaya was on his way towards a robe shop, carrying his surprisingly light new trunk with him. It didn't take him more than five minutes before he was at Madam Malkin's shop. When he entered he could see two women, chatting heatedly about something, a news paper open before them. When they noticed him they went quiet, before the other one, a squat woman smiled at him.

"Hello, I'm Madam Malkin! How can I help you?"

"I need some robes. For school."

"You're going to Hogwarts, I presume?"

"Yes."

"Well this way, dear!" As they passed the counter Hitsugaya glimpsed at the news paper. He recognized the man in the picture, despite having only seen him once. It was Dumbledore. The headline read:" Albus Dumbledore in danger of losing his Order of Merlin, First class" But Madam Malkin guided him further into the shop before he got the chance to look at the paper more closely. "Hop on to that foot stool, I'll be right back!" Hitsugaya did as he was told. He faced the mirror before him, seeing from its reflection the other woman. She was reading the same paper, shaking her head every now and then, seemingly not believing the words that were written there. It made Hitsugaya's curiosity rise.

"Here you go, just pull this over your head!" Madam Malkin gave him a black robe and he pulled it over his head. She then started pinning it to make it fit him better. "A first year, are you?"

"Yes."

"Excited?"

"…Yes, very…" The woman smiled sympathetically.

"Now now dear, it's okay to be nervous, every first year usually is." Hitsugaya decided not to reply, she'd probably just keep talking to him like to a kid. The rest of the fitting went in silence. Hitsugaya was surprised how quickly everything seemed to happen, he had expected to be asked to come later to get his robes, but instead he was asked to wait a moment. Soon Madam Malkin came to him, on her arms were nicely folded robes, three sets of plain work robes, one winter cloak and a pointed hat that Hitsugaya already knew he wasn't going to use. She also asked him if he needed protective gloves as well and whether he wanted dragon hide gloves or not. Hitsugaya quickly replied that anything else but dragon hide. Madam Malkin gave him all the robes, gloves and the hat, telling the prize. He gave her some Galleons, Sickles and Knuts. Hitsugaya opened his new trunk to put his purchases in it. While doing this he heard the women whispering.

"Does it say why?" Madam Malkin asked the other woman.

"Same reason that lost him his place in Wizengamot; they're saying he's going crazy."

"Oh phooey! Dumbledore has always been a bit… well, eccentric but I can't believe that he has lost his marbles all of a sudden!"

"Do you believe him and Harry Potter then? Do you seriously believe that You-Know-Who's back?" Hitsugaya looked at the squat witch, she seemed quite uncomfortable.

"I… well… I don't know…" Madam Malkin suddenly noticed that Hitsugaya was still there. "Is there something else we can help you with, dear?" Hitsugaya shut his trunk and stood up. He turned to face them and briefly thought about asking them to tell him more of the situation with Dumbledore.

"…No. Thank you and goodbye." He bowed and left the shop. He felt the women's eyes follow him when he walked past their window to find a book shop. So the wizarding world thought that Dumbledore was losing his mind? And they thought that this "You-Know-Who" (most likely Voldemort, Hitsugaya realized) was still dead… The Potter boy was obviously on Dumbledore's side. Hitsugaya shook his head; he really would have liked to know more about the situation, but the letter that Dumbledore had sent had only explained when and how he would be getting to the school. Kentaro hadn't been much help either, the old man hadn't trusted him enough to tell him more than necessary. Hitsugaya let out a loud sigh. He didn't even know what the Potter boy looked like. In his letter Dumbledore had said that Hitsugaya would find him very quickly when he arrived to the school.

The bookstore was called Flourish and Blotts. Tonks had said that it was really the best bookstore, with reasonable prices and helpful workers. He entered the shop and found it wonderfully quiet. It was like being in a library; there were many selves filled with books of every size and color, people were talking in hushed voices and the air smelled like paper and scrolls. It was the first place that felt really homey for Hitsugaya.

Without waiting for some of the workers to notice him, he took the book list from his pocket and started walking between the selves, trying to find the needed books by himself. He looked at the covers of many books. There were some books about stars, fortune telling and one that was titled _Death Omens: What to Do When You Know the Worst Is Coming._ Hitsugaya snorted. Like anyone could really know when they would die. It was only natural to fear death and when they got caught up in searching those death omens, they'd see them everywhere and stress themselves to death. Human mind was a powerful and dangerous thing.

He looked at the picture on the cover. There was a huge bear-like dog and a small text that told him it was the Grim. Hitsugaya had to smirk. After all, there had been an actual bear size black dog like creature wandering these parts, haunting people and killing them. But the unknown truth was that it had actually been a hollow. He remembered a class at the academy; they had gone through different types of hollows and special cases that had appeared over the years. This "Grim" had been one of those special cases, a hollowfied dog that went after people with higher _reiatsu_. And it seemed that wizards and witches all had a slightly higher _reiatsu_ than normal people did. This had been found out by the first and second divisions, whose territory this part of Europe was (and those were the only divisions who actually knew about the magical world until now, it seemed). It had really been a relief to Hitsugaya to find out that he didn't need a gigai during the mission. He hated the itchy and stiff feeling that was guaranteed when a soul entered a flesh other than one's own. It also saved him from figuring out how to sneak out of the school to do maintenance on the gigai.

Hitsugaya put the book away and continued his search. After a few minutes he decided that he was searching from the wrong place and decided to try the next aisle. As he turned the corner, he was caught in a rain of books. He quickly raised his arms to shield his head from blows.

"Oh my god! Are you alright!?" Hitsugaya moved his arms away, looking at the plump woman before him. Her expression was of pure concern as she looked at him. Hitsugaya dusted himself off and looked at the woman.

"I'm fine." He told her, but she didn't seem to believe him because the next thing he knew was that with surprising speed she took his face into her hands and started feeling his head for bumps, while furiously muttering something to herself. Momentarily Hitsugaya was unable to do anything due to pure shock, but it didn't take him long to yank himself free of the woman.

"Are you sure you are okay? I think I felt a bump!" Hitsugaya realized that his expression must look quite scandalized and he quickly wiped the expression away. As the woman took one step towards him, he raised his hands and took a step back.

"No, I'm fine really." She still seemed to doubt that. And it was no wonder, Hitsugaya realized as he looked around him, there were books enough for five if not more around him, all thick school books. A normal child probably wouldn't have been able to react as quickly as he had. 'Although literally running into someone is unforgivable in the first place, I should be more aware of my surroundings'. He smiled a little, understanding that the red headed woman was the kind that would probably drag him to a doctor if he acted indifferent; she'd probably think he had a concussion.

"Well, if you are sure." She smiled back, uncertain.

"I'm sure." And he crouched down and started picking the books up from the floor. She kneeled as well and started collecting the books. After they had all the books the woman smiled at him once more.

"Thank you, if you could place those books on top of my pile." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"I'll help you carry these, you were going to the counter, weren't you?"

"Why thank you, so nice to meet an honest young man these days! And yes, I was going to the cashier." She smiled widely, walking towards the counter that was situated at the end of the shop. Hitsugaya followed her, carrying the book on one hand and dragging his trunk with the other. "I am Molly Weasley, by the way." She looked over her shoulder at him with a smile.

"Hits… Toushiro Hitsugaya." It felt weird to say his name the wrong way around.

"Are you in school already?" She asked and dumped the books she was holding on the counter. There were no workers in sight.

"I'm starting first year…"

"Well that's nice! I have four children of my own attending there! And one foster child of shorts… You are attending Hogwarts, right?" The amount of children explained the ridiculous amount of books. Hitsugaya wondered why none of the before mentioned children had come along to help their mother. Weren't Englishmen supposed to be all gentlemen?

"Yes I am."

"Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting!" A man in his mid forty's suddenly appeared from a backroom and smiled at them.

"Oh it's no problem!" Mrs. Weasley said and the man started packing the books, using his wand. Hitsugaya watched in awe as the man shrunk the books to half of their real size before the books floated to a couple of paper bags by themselves. He noticed Mrs. Weasley looking at him, smiling widely.

"What?"

"You are from a muggle family, aren't you?"

"Yes…"

"That's 37 Galleons, 10 Sickles and 5 Knuts." Mrs. Weasley's smile turned to a light frown as she opened her purse and took out a small, worn out money bag. As she counted the money, Hitsugaya thought about leaving to find his books, but it would be rude to just leave without saying anything to the woman now that they had conversed.

"Here you go Mrs. Weasley! Thank you and come again!" The cashier gave the paper bags to Mrs. Weasley who smiled and thanked him before turning to Hitsugaya.

"Well I hope you'll have a great school year! I'm afraid I need to go now, are you sure your head's alright?"

"Positive." Mrs. Weasley smiled widely.

"It was nice meeting you Toushiro, and thank you very much for your help! Goodbye then!"

"Goodbye." She waved at him before leaving the shop and he waved back. Then he turned to the man. "Excuse me, could you help me find these books, please." He gave the man the booklist. The man smiled at Hitsugaya.

"Of course, if you'll wait here, I'll get the books for you. I promise it won't take long." And he left. Hitsugaya yawned; shopping had never been his forte, it wore him down more than three piles of undone paper work. And he still had at least one shop to visit before he could go back to the Leaky Cauldron. He had thought about visiting Ollivander's shop, but didn't want the old man to feel like he was trying to rush him. Besides, he would be busy enough packing his stuff and trying to figure out a way to contact Yamamoto-_soutaichou_. Hitsugaya took the phone from his pocket, cursing out laud when he noticed that it was still as dead as yesterday.

"Now now! Such language is not for young children!" Hitsugaya jumped a little, quickly stuffing the phone into his pocket again. The man was back, with a stack of books on his arms.

"I apologize."

The man nodded and took his wand, working the same magic as earlier. "By the way, don't you know that muggle stuff doesn't work here?" Hitsugaya raised his head and looked at the man in confusion.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, all their electronic devices break when they come to touch with the amount of magic that's in the wizarding areas. So that thing you have, well, it's not going to work around here, you should just throw it away." Hitsugaya looked at the man in disbelief. His phone wasn't just any "electronic device", but a communicator that worked between worlds! Something as simple as a bit of magic couldn't be interfering with it! "That makes 6 Galleons and 16 Sickles."

Hitsugaya paid for the books, put them in his trunk and left the shop, still stunned. How was he going to report to Yamamoto during the mission, if the communicator wouldn't work in the school? He had thought that it was just a temporary thing, it had happened before. He decided to ponder about it later. Hitsugaya looked around him, trying to find the next shop where he'd buy the rest of his stuff. The shop he had looked for was next to a store that seemingly sold cleaning equipments and he briefly wondered why bunch of kids were excitedly ogling at a broom that was on display. Shrugging, he entered the shop on the right side of the cleaning equipment store.

The store was nice and clean, with many shelves full of different items, most of which Hitsugaya didn't recognize. "Hello there, young man! How can I be of help?" A Young woman asked. Hitsugaya gave her the item list.

"Can I get all of these items here?" The woman read through the list and smiled politely.

"Yes you can. Would you like to come along or wait here while I get the items for you?"

"I can wait."

"Alright then, you can sit there, I'll be right back." And the woman left. Hitsugaya went to sit where the woman had pointed, near the counter. He looked at the clock that was ticking on the white wall behind the counter. He was pleased to notice that he'd been faster than he had originally calculated. Now he'd have more time to pack and maybe he'd even start reading some of the school books. And he'd have to report. And that meant that he'd have to find a spot where his phone would work. 'Maybe London?' Deciding to ask Tom about it more that evening, Hitsugaya closed his eyes and massaged his temples. Second day to his mission and he was already starting to have headaches.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes as he heard footsteps coming his way. The woman was back, a cauldron on her arms, carrying inside it the other items, such as glass phials and a small telescope.

"Okay, this should be all, or was there something else you needed?"

"No, just the items on the list. How much do I owe you?"

"10 Galleons" Hitsugaya gave the money to the woman and packed the items into his trunk. Hitsugaya thanked the woman and exited the shop. The trunk started to feel heavy; after all he had been dragging it around all morning. Hitsugaya looked to direction of Leaky Cauldron. The street was busier than he had seen it so far. With a sigh, he started walking towards the pub/inn, trying his best not to walk into anyone.

It took him longer than he had hoped to reach the archway that now closed behind him. Hitsugaya dusted himself off; he had bumped shoulders with many people, and had been nearly knocked over by a blond boy with pointed face and a bad attitude. Hitsugaya had fought the urge to just _shunpo _his way to the Leaky Cauldron the whole way down there. The risk of being noticed would have been small; people tended to notice less when there were a great number of them at one place. But Hitsugaya knew that however small, there was the possibility that someone would have noticed him suddenly disappearing and he wasn't willing to take any risks so early on. Although now that he thought about it, Tonks had disappeared the day before as well.

Hitsugaya entered the pub, it was full of people; he'd ask Tom about the electronic problems and London later. He headed upstairs to his room. The room seemed different once again. Hitsugaya looked around it and spotted the problem: the plant. It had moved from the corner of the room to near the door. Hitsugaya hesitated for a while before entering the room, keeping an eye on the plant. Had it moved by itself or had someone moved it? The door had been locked, but Tom probably had a spare key. Deciding to go with the more logical answer, Hitsugaya quickly took his bag from under the bed and went through it, making sure that everything was still there. Nothing was missing. Hitsugaya looked at the plant again, narrowing his eyes. He'd ask Tom.

Deciding to start packing his new trunk, Hitsugaya opened it and emptied the contents first, then putting everything back in, in a new order, simultaneously checking that he hadn't forgotten anything. He also took all the clothes and other normal items, such as hairbrush, toothbrush etc. from the realm bag and put them into the trunk. After half an hour he had everything neatly packed, and he took the letter he had received from Dumbledore and read it again. In the letter was explained where the train to Hogwarts was and how he'd get in there. Hitsugaya noticed one problem right away.

King's cross.

The "muggle" people wouldn't be able to see him, just the trunk he was dragging after him. He'd either have to get a gigai for tomorrow or get someone to take his trunk for him. Those were the two solutions that he came up with and neither sounded very good. He'd have to think something better. Other problem was getting to the station; he couldn't take a taxi, since well, normal people couldn't see him. He really should have taken a gigai with him…

Hitsugaya stood up and took the communicator with him, deciding that it was time to head towards London streets to see if it worked there. He had decided not to ask Tom, it was busy enough in the bar and Hitsugaya didn't want to be a bother. He had time after all. Hitsugaya left the room, locked the door and walked down the stairs, towards the crowded bar.

"Mr. Hitsugaya, are you going somewhere?" Hitsugaya looked towards the voice and saw Tom waving at him. He went to the man.

"Yes. I was going to see London…"

"Ahh, of course you'd want to see London's sights, after coming all the way from Japan." Hitsugaya nodded. "Well, be sure to come back before eleven o'clock!" He nodded again.

"Bye" Hitsugaya headed towards the door, many eyes following him as he navigated through the crowd. After he left the Leaky Cauldron, he walked for half an hour before the communicator flicked to life. Hitsugaya quickly searched for a more secluded place and wondered to a deserted alleyway. Thanking all the gods that were listening he flipped the communicator open and called the report line that had been set up just for him.

"You are late." Was the first thing he heard. Hitsugaya recognized the voice to be Sasakibe-_fukutaichou's. _"We awaited your report no later than yesterday evening."

"I apologize. The communicator does not work normally here, that is why my report is late. I also need to speak with Kurotsuchi later, concerning this problem." It would be hell telling the mad scientist that the communicator that he had developed was near useless on his mission.

"That will be arranged. Unfortunately Yamamoto-_soutaichou_ is busy, so I will be hearing your report in his place." Hitsugaya sighed and took a more comfortable position as he started telling the older man everything that had happened so far. Sasakibe-_fukutaichou_ listened quietly, time to time making a soft noise to let Hitsugaya know that he was still listening.

After Hitsugaya had told the man everything he gave the other man a chance to answer. Sasakibe took a deep breath and was quiet for a while. "Do you think this Ollivander or this Tonks woman is suspecting anything after witnessing your power?"

"Both seemed very intelligent, so I wouldn't be surprised if they wonder about it now that they've had time to think about it."

"If they start to show signs of being threats to the mission, report about it to us and we will send a team to modify their memories. Meanwhile, I'll send Kentaro back to Dumbledore-san to ask him to help keeping the suspicions down."

"Understood… Sasakibe_-fukutaichou_, how is the tenth-division, is everything running smoothly?"

"Everything seems to be well, my congratulations on picking your substitute."

"Thank you, but I dare say Ukitake-_taichou_ is still facing worse than a few hung over shinigami." Sasakibe chuckled.

"I am sure of that as well. Matsumoto-san is quite a handful, if I may say so."

"She is."

"Well, I shall forward your report to Yamamoto-_soutaichou_. When will you be able to contact us again?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"I'll try to arrange so that Yamamoto-_soutaichou_ can take the report from you personally. I will now connect you to Kurotsuchi-_taichou_. Good day to you Hitsugaya-_taichou_."

"Thank you Sasakibe-_fukutaichou_." Hitsugaya waited as the line re-connected to the Research and Development Bureau. He mentally braced himself to a long and hard debate.

"What does this mean!?" Hitsugaya could clearly hear the mad scientist's shrill voice even thought he had foreseen the shout and held the communicator a safe distance away from his ear.

"Good evening, Kurotsuchi-_taichou._" Hitsugaya said, daring to put the communicator back against his ear.

"Hitsugaya-_taichou_! Care to tell me how you have managed to break the communicator?!"

"I didn't break it. It just broke."

"My inventions do not 'just break'!!" Hitsugaya sighed. Now he had done it, aggravating the scientist was a definite mistake.

"What seems to be the problem, Hitsugaya-taichou?" Hitsugaya felt relief settle in his chest, if Akon was there then maybe this conversation would get somewhere.

"I was explained that human gadgets do not quite work here because of the magic that is in the air." Hitsugaya could hear many snorts at the word. These were hard core scientists, they didn't believe in anything that couldn't be proved by them. "…This of course leaves me with absolutely no way to report after I enter the school premises."

"What happens to the communicator when there's…"magic"…around?" Even Akon couldn't keep the scorn from his voice. They were making Hitsugaya sound stupid and he did not like that.

"It shuts itself down."

"It doesn't response at all? Not to anything?"

"No." He could hear many scientists mumbling; it seemed that Kurotsuchi had rounded all of his scientist minions to listen.

"Hmph… When do you leave for the school?" Kurotsuchi had taken matters over once again.

"Tomorrow morning, the train leaves at eleven."

"Fine, bring us something that's…. "magical" and we'll analyze it and create something new, that even you can't break." Hitsugaya remembered the creature from yesterday and imagined himself kidnapping it and giving it to Kurotsuchi. He quickly shook his head. Such images were bad.

"I can't leave England."

"Well then someone comes to get the damn hocus pocus item from you!!" Kurotsuchi shouted, the man could really do with some patience. Hitsugaya had just about had enough.

"Fine. Arrange someone to meet me at King's Cross station at ten o'clock sharp. And tell them to come in gigais." He shut the communicator, effectively hanging up.

If someone was coming here, they could help him and drag the trunk for him. This way he didn't need to dispose of a gigai later. He could _shunpo _to the station tomorrow, if he used the roofs then there shouldn't be a risk that someone saw him or his trunk. Hitsugaya started towards the Leaky Cauldron, tomorrow was going to be near hell and he had to be prepared.

* * *

As I already said, this chapter is ridiculously long, but I was unwilling to leave anything out.  
I hope you haven't lost your interest on the story somewhere along the way! :/

My original plan was to include the receiving the wand, train trip and the sorting in this chapter, but I decided to cut this chapter in half after all. It would have been way too long a chapter if I hadn't.

I'm sorry if the prices of the items seem stupid, but I have absolutely no idea how much a Galleon is in our currency. Please forgive me if I'm way off.

Anyway, please leave a review and tell me how you've liked this story so far!

And thanks to those who have left a review on the earlier chapters, I've gotten some great feedback!

-Pureya


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
Taichou means captain  
Soutaichou means captain-commander  
Shinigami means death reaper  
Seireitei is where the shinigami reside  
Soul Society consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 4**

The day to leave for the school had finally come. Hitsugaya was up and moving at 8 o'clock sharp, after all he still had lots to do before he would aboard the train. Hitsugaya quickly put on his clothes (a black long sleeved shirt with a chain in the middle and some plain jeans) and tossed his pajamas into his trunk and shut it. He looked around the room to make sure that he hadn't forgotten anything. Smiling a bit, he opened the curtains to let the whole room bathe in sunlight. He turned to the plant that was once again in the corner of the room. "Hope that keeps you happy." The plant had indeed moved by itself. Tom had told to Hitsugaya that this particular plant loved the sunlight so that it moved itself around to get as much of it as possible. And this was why there were no other plants in the room; this one was really obsessive and had thrown the others out from the window. Hitsugaya had then decided that he needed to start respecting nature more and had watered the plant. Just in case. He could fight hollows but seriously didn't know how to react to a violent plant.

Hitsugaya left the room, taking with him the trunk. He was carrying the realm bag on his shoulder; he'd pack the wand and Kurotsuchi's "souvenir" in it. Hitsugaya looked around the bar. It was empty. But Tom had agreed to meet him here so he could get to Diagon Alley…

"Tom?" No response.

"Tom!" This time he heard movement in the backroom. Soon enough, a very tousled looking Tom staggered into the room and Hitsugaya immediately felt a pang of guilt for having to wake the old man. Regardless of the fact that he had just been woken up, Tom smiled at Hitsugaya.

"Ah, sorry! I shut my eyes for a minute and what do you know… years must be catching up to me, falling asleep that fast…!" Tom's laugh was interrupted by a yawn that he hastily tried to cover.

"No, I'm sorry that I had to wake you up at this hour." Hitsugaya bowed. Tom waved his hand at him.

"It's no problem. Of course I understand that you need to get to the train station on time. I would have had to wake up in an hour anyway; this is one of the busiest days of the year!" The thought of great income seemed to cheer the old man up. "Well, let's go so you can get your wand and be off on your way. You can leave your trunk behind the counter and get it when you check out." Hitsugaya nodded and dragged his trunk behind the counter and then followed Tom to the backyard, where Tom once again opened the archway for Hitsugaya. "I'll be waiting in the bar, yell if I've dosed off again!" With a smile and a wave Tom went back in. Hitsugaya nodded and waved back.

Hitsugaya started towards Ollivander's, a slight uncertainty settling in his stomach; what if Ollivander really had started suspecting something? It would be hard to get a shinigami team in here to modify his memory and Hitsugaya really didn't want any trouble right now.

It didn't take him long to get to Ollivander's shop now that the street was near empty. He had only seen a few store keepers opening their doors or rearranging their windows. The light inside the shop was on and Hitsugaya could see the man sitting behind the counter, looking at a wand that was most likely Hitsugaya's. Happy that he didn't need to wake up another elderly, Hitsugaya knocked on the door and then opened it.

"Good morning, Ollivander-san" He said as he entered. The old man looked at him and smiled. He seemed older than two days ago; it was probably because of the dark circles under his eyes. He hadn't gotten much sleep lately, it seemed.

"Good morning Mr. Hitsugaya! I just did the finishing touches to your wand!" The smile widened. "It's a great wand!" Hitsugaya nodded, smiling a little. He felt a bit nervous, not really knowing how to pry out the information on the man's thoughts about him. "Oh right, you have to try it before we celebrate!" Ollivander gave Hitsugaya the wand and guided him to stand in the middle of the store.

"10 inches, made of ash wood; it's a great wand wood for those with explosive amounts of power, since the wood is strong, but bendy. The core of course is dragon heartstring, fused with your hair and blood. I'm really expecting great results!" Hitsugaya looked at the wand that hopefully would be the one for him. It was grayish color, and it felt strong in his grip. He could feel the faint presence of Hyorinmaru growl in his mind.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" Hitsugaya snapped out of his reverie. He braced himself in case of any explosions and waved the wand in a long arc. There were no explosions, no nothing. At first he felt great disappointment and looked at Ollivander who also looked crestfallen. Then suddenly snowflakes started falling in the room. Hitsugaya looked up. There weren't even clouds anywhere. He was not so sure if this was a good sign, so he shifted his eyes to Ollivander. He was smiling most widely.

"This is…good!" He said. Hitsugaya allowed a small smile creep to his lips. Suddenly Ollivander's expression went serious. "Now that we have solved this problem, I'd like to talk to you." Hitsugaya nodded, he didn't like where this was going. "You see, Toushirou, you have an explosive amount of power," He paused and looked at Hitsugaya straight in the eye. "Normally, a person can use another person's wand and still cast a proper spell. Concerning this, I must ask you to use only your own wand. I'm afraid that your magical powers might damage other wands." Hitsugaya blinked. That was all?

"I…see…" Now he had the chance to make sure if the memory modifiers were needed. "Ollivander-san, why do you think I have so much magical powers?" Ollivander looked at him and smiled.

"You are from a muggle family, yes?" Hitsugaya nodded."Usually young wizards can't control their powers and their abilities are revealed when a lot of unconsciously suppressed magical power is released at once. When it happens, the result is usually somewhat disastrous. Even though I don't know you really well, you do come across as a very calm and collected person. If I'm right, it just could be that all the power you have suppressed over the years is just bursting to get out and after a while, your powers might calm down a bit."

"So my situation isn't all that uncommon?" Hitsugaya dared to get his hopes up…

"Oh, your situation is highly unusual!" …Only to feel them crashing down. "But in the end, a lot of unusual things are happening these days. Truth to be told, I was quite excited by the challenge of making you a wand. It is not every day that I need to custom make a wand like I did with yours." Ollivander smiled widely. Hitsugaya felt really uncertain. Ollivander had indeed noticed something. But in Hitsugaya's mind the man didn't seem to actually care about it. Should he ask for a team or not?

"Uhh… I'm sorry for the trouble. How much do I owe you?"

"I just told you, it was no trouble. As for the price… I should say about eleven Galleons." Hitsugaya opened his bag and took the money, giving it to Ollivander. Hitsugaya put his new wand into the bag and bowed to Ollivander.

"Thank you for your hard work and help." Ollivander smiled.

"Thank you for bringing some challenge into an old man's life!" Hitsugaya nodded and waved before he left the shop. He had made a decision. Ollivander was not a threat; he would keep his memories untouched. The old man's curiosity ended where his work did, and Hitsugaya could not help admiring his professionalism. Now all he needed to do was to get an item for Kurotsuchi. Entering a random shop, Hitsugaya was greeted by a tired employee, asking if she could be of any help. Hitsugaya politely turned the offer down and the relieved looking woman left him in favor of a cup full of coffee.

Hitsugaya knew that he really didn't have all that much time, so he skipped all the items that looked familiar to him (probably "muggle" stuff that was just enchanted) and concentrated on items that seemed way out of this world. This was when Hitsugaya realized that it was good that he had been stationed in the real world often: He, unlike many shinigami, actually knew about the culture of the living of today. So knew what a juice box was and how one was used (he had heard the packing had greatly amazed and confused Renji and Rukia) and really he could now be fairly sure that he wouldn't pick something that one could find laying around in streets.

Hitsugaya read many labels, trying to find something that wasn't the least bit dangerous and was obviously magical. Fifteen minutes later he walked out of the store, Kurotsuchi's new Remembral and a guide to it use in his bag. It was a great item to pick, Hitsugaya had realized; this way Kurotsuchi wouldn't forget about Hitsugaya and his predicament even though he had something shiny new toy...

Hitsugaya picked up his pace and headed straight towards the Leaky Cauldron; he still needed to check out of the inn and find the station before ten o'clock. When he arrived to the bar, there was only one customer that was checking in. Hitsugaya patiently waited for his turn, not daring to even take his trunk from behind the counter before the other customer was happily going up the stairs.

"So, time to leave, eh?" Hitsugaya nodded and took his money bag.

"Thank you for all your help. How much do I owe you?"

"Always happy to help! Let's see, two nights… That makes 5 Galleons 4 Sickles and then all the meals you ate make 1 Galleon 5 Knuts. Together it's 6 Galleons, 4 Sickles and 5 Knuts please!" Hitsugaya gave Tom the money and Tom gave Hitsugaya his trunk. "So, do you have your map?"

"Yes, thank you very much for giving it to me."

"Oh it's no problem. Although I don't get why you'd need it, I'm pretty sure every taxi driver knows where King's Cross station is."

"I just… want to make sure of that… And I'm visiting a souvenir shop before going to the station anyway so…" Hitsugaya trailed off, not really knowing what he should say to make it seem like he really needed the map.

"Oh I see, afraid of losing your way there?" Hitsugaya nodded quickly. "Well I hope you've enjoyed your stay here, and you're welcome to stay here again!"

"You have been great help to me, Tom-san, thank you very much." Hitsugaya bowed. Tom bowed to him as well.

"I hope you have a great time at school! Bye then!"

"Bye." And Hitsugaya left the shop quickly. He needed to hurry to make it on time. He preferred to be early than a second late. Hitsugaya started walking away from the Leaky Cauldron, looking at map and looking for a quiet alley, so he could climb to the roof without anyone noticing. He ended up walking the same way as he had the previous night and found himself in the same alley where he had finally contacted Soul Society. Taking the time to make sure that no one could see him, Hitsugaya crouched down and jumped high, landing on the roof, without missing a beat, he started to shunpo towards King's Cross station. It felt great to exercise a little after lying around for so long. The cold wind felt refreshing on his face as he jumped from rooftop to another. Checking the map for directions, Hitsugaya quickened his step. He probably wouldn't have too many opportunities to run as fast as he could in the upcoming year.

It didn't take long before he was standing on King's cross station's roof, looking at all the people pouring into the busy building. He was ten minutes early, so he set his trunk down and sat on it, taking out the letter from Dumbledore. He read it through again, he'd have to destroy it before he entered the magical side of the station. Dumbledore didn't want anyone knowing about their co-operation and neither did Yamamoto-soutaichou. Hitsugaya sighed. Why couldn't they send Kurosaki or maybe Orihime? Hitsugaya knew that his presence was bound to draw attention, especially if had to repress his reiatsu for extremely long times; repressing his reiatsu seemed to cause snow to fall from nowhere. He'd have to ask Dumbledore where he could "let loose" without making any students lose their consciousness.

Suddenly Hitsugaya felt a somewhat familiar reiatsu coming towards him, at a fast pace. Hitsugaya looked over his shoulder and saw Tsubokura Rin jogging lightly towards him, waving his hand uncertainly when she saw him looking. Of course Kurotsuchi would send him, their "errand boy" of sorts… From what he had heard, Hitsugaya knew that the boy wasn't nearly as respected in his own division as he should be.

"Hitsugaya-taichou!" Tsubokura bowed when he reached Hitsugaya.

"Tsubokura." He acknowledged him. Tsubokura straightened his back and sighed. He was obviously in his gigai: you'd never catch a member of the Research and Development Bureau wearing a yellow sweater and blue pants inside Soul Society. Rin stood out even more because of his hair; his bangs were tied up like usually, making it look like he had an antenna on top his head. No wonder no one took him seriously.

"I have a letter from Kurotsuchi-taichou!" He took off her small lavender colored pack back and took a letter from inside it. Hitsugaya took the letter, watched it for a while, and tore it in half. "Hitsugaya-taichou! That… that was important!"

"I don't want to read it." It was probably about his incompetence and disrespect towards the inventions of the mad man… Hitsugaya knew these speeches by heart already. He took the remembrall from his own bag and threw it to the distressed researcher. Rin fumbled with it and nearly dropped the ball.

"Wha… what's this?" He asked, looking at the small ball that held smoke inside it.

"It's a remembrall, it tells you when you've forgotten something. Here's the manual… or whatever to its use. Make sure you give it to Akon at first. Kurotsuchi would just rip it apart." Rin looked at him with eyes that clearly said "like you just did to his letter".

"Uhh, alright. He put the ball inside his back pack. "About other things… Yamamoto-soutaichou contacted the… wizards'… boss…" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. These things were hard for even her to say, and he was probably least snobby of the researchers in Soul Society! "… And uhh, he said that it won't be possible for anyone else to visit the castle after the school term has started. So you can't communicate to us through a message given to another shinigami. You'll have to write letters." Hitsugaya nodded. Rin searched through his pockets, found a small piece of paper and gave it to Hitsugaya who accepted the paper with raised eyebrows. "That's Kurosaki Ichigo's address."

"Kurosaki's?"

"Yes, Yamamoto-soutaichou was unwilling to use Urahara-san to forward the mail."

"Does Kurosaki know of this?"

"Renji-fukutaichou is responsible for informing Kurosaki Ichigo of his position in this mission."

"So probably not"

"…"

"…"

"… Anyways, this… Dumbledore person also said that the mail leaving and arriving to the castle may be spied by some ministry official or something. Seems like he's got himself a real great political mess."

"Yes, I was figuring out that myself… His name has appeared in the news papers a few times while I've been here." Hitsugaya ran his hand through his hair. Rin's words worried him. The last thing they needed was a great political war in this situation.

"I see… Was there something else?"

"Yes. Let's get down from the roof; you'll be carrying my trunk for me to the station."

"Excuse me?"

"I didn't bring a gigai. The muggles can't see me, but they can see the trunk."

"Muggles?"

"…The non-magical people…" He felt stupid saying this and was grateful when Rin just nodded, instead of commenting. Hitsugaya stood up and took his trunk, walking to the edge of the roof, trying to find a good place to land before walking into the station. In the end they had to hop to another building's roof to find a nice quiet alleyway. As soon as they came down from the roof, Hitsugaya gave his trunk to Rin and started walking towards the station, the clumsy researcher following him. "By the way Tsubokura…" The boy raised his head. "…When I talk to you from now on, don't answer out loud. People will think you are crazy and you'll attract attention." Not that his clothes helped to avoid it…

"Yes, Hitsugaya-taichou!" They continued their walk in silence, and soon entered the station. Hitsugaya looked around, trying to find platforms nine and ten, and the hidden passage there to the wizards' own platform, from where the train to the school was supposed to leave. He looked behind him, seeing Rin looking around, his mouth open and apologizing to everyone who he collided with. Hitsugaya shook his head. Then he spotted something: a blond boy with pointed face. It was the same boy who had nearly walked over him in Diagon Alley. He was pushing a trolley in which was a trunk that greatly resembled Hitsugaya's own.

"Tsubokura! Hurry up!" The boy's eyes snapped back to look at Hitsugaya and he nodded, remembering not to speak out loud. Hitsugaya picked up his pace and started following the blond boy, who obviously had the same objective as Hitsugaya: Hogwarts express! He kept his eyes locked on the boy so he could see the moment he passed through the barrier mentioned in the letter Dumbledore had sent him. Soon they could see platforms 9 and 10. The boy was heading straight towards the barrier between them, slightly jogging now. Then a large crowd of tourists passed, hiding the boy behind them. But Hitsugaya had seen enough, it wasn't hard to guess that the wall acted as the barrier. He went to the wall, sensing the barrier and waited for Rin to catch up.

"Tsubokura" Rin raised his eyebrows. "I can take it from here. Thank you for your assistance." The researcher beamed and nodded. Hitsugaya took the letter from Dumbledore and gave it to Rin. "When you leave, dispose of this letter. Burn it." Rin looked around him and leaned slightly towards Hitsugaya, who fought his natural instinct to lean away.

"Have a nice mission! Bye, Hitsugaya-taichou!" He whispered to him and Hitsugaya nodded and took his trunk from the researcher.

"Bye. Make sure the manual gets to Akon first." He turned and promptly walked through the barrier, the noise of the station disappearing behind him and being replaced by new sounds as he emerged to the other side just a couple of seconds later. On the other side was an old fashioned steam-powered train. It was bright red and from its pipe came lazy puffs of smoke. The station itself was still quite empty; it seemed like many people were leaving the boarding to the last minute then. It suited Hitsugaya fine, at least he could find himself a seat easily. With that in mind he walked to the train, pulling the trunk in after him. He walked down the corridor, passing compartments, seeing some others in them already. The first years were easy to pick out from the rest of the group; they all were looking around with uncertainty about them. Hitsugaya decided to look for an empty compartment, not really wanting to be the one to ask to sit with other people. He soon found one near the end of the train.

He put his trunk to a corner and sat down next to the window, opening it to let fresh air into the compartment. Hitsugaya positioned himself comfortably, closing his eyes and relaxing. He was absent mindedly listening to passing people's conversations, trying to hear some useful information. He soon realized that it was futile; all he could hear was mothers sniffling as they said their goodbyes to equally sniffling children (most of them probably first years; the older children seemed happy to get back to school). Hitsugaya sifted his position, looking around to see if he could find something to do. Not finding anything, he took his trunk and rummaged it for a while. After finding the book he wanted from the trunk, he shut it and once again put the trunk into a corner. He opened the book and started reading. It was the history book. He had already started on it last night, and had found it quite interesting.

Sometime later the door to his compartment was opened and Hitsugaya looked up. There was a girl at the door and she smiled at him.

"Hi, are these seats taken? We can't find a compartment that isn't empty so…" Hitsugaya shook his head. "Oh good! Is it okay if we take these seats then?" Hitsugaya just nodded. The girl beamed and looked behind her. "Hey! Padma, Lavender! We can sit here!" Soon two other girls appeared at the door and all three girls took their seats, the beaming first girl sat next to Hitsugaya and the other two girls across them. The girl next to him turned to look at him. "I'm Parvati, fifth year and from the house of Gryffindor. The one across from me is my sister, Padma, she's from Ravenclaw, and the one next to her is Lavender, a fellow Gryffindor!" Hitsugaya nodded, not really having an idea what Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were.

"Toushirou Hitsugaya"

"You're a first year?" The girl across him, Lavender, asked. Hitsugaya just nodded. "Well I hope you'll get to Gryffindor!" She smiled and then started talking to Parvati about something. Hitsugaya looked outside; the station had become quite busy while he had concentrated on his book.

"What time it is?" All the three girls looked at him and the one named Padma looked at her watch.

"Three to eleven. We'll be leaving soon." Hitsugaya nodded his thanks and looked back outside, seeing a group of people with a dog with them. He then recognized the woman with the group; it was the nice woman from the bookstore, Molly Weasley. 'She mentioned her kids go to Hogwarts, she must be saying her goodbyes to them.' He sighed and turned his attention to his book once again. Soon he felt the train start moving and at the same time the door opened and two boys stood there, looking inside. They seemed a lot younger than the trio that had entered before. The boys looked around hesitantly and Lavender looked at them.

"Trying to find seats?" At their nod she continued, "Well those seats are available, sit down!" The boys nodded once again and sat down at the offered seats, giving shy looks at all the people inside. Hitsugaya nodded to them. They seemed likely to be first years as well. The other boy was shaking in his boots as his sat next to Padma, the other boy seemed far calmer.

"So you two first years as well?" Parvati asked. She was a nice person, Hitsugaya realized. She seemed to make it her business to make everyone feel a bit more comfortable. Although now that Hitsugaya thought about it, all the people he had met so far had been this way.

"Yes…" The boy next to Parvati answered. He was slightly taller than the shaking boy, his short brown hair was put up with gel and it added his height by an inch or two.

"Well that's nice! Tosh…Torsh..errr…"

"Toushiro."

"Ah yes, Toushiro is a first year as well! We are all fifth years, so you can ask us if you want to know something! I'm Parvati, this is my sister Padma and that's my friend Lavender."

"I'm Richard and that's Brian." The shy boy with black hair and glasses nodded, smiling shyly.

"Nice to meet you both, so anything you want to ask us?"

"…Not really."

"…Oh. Well if you think of anything don't hesitate to ask." And the girls started talking about their own summers after that. Hitsugaya felt eyes on him and looked around to see who was the one behind the stare. He saw the shy boy, Brian turn his gaze quickly away. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and was about to continue reading as the door opened once again. Now it was a round faced boy.

"Oh… hi."

"Hi Neville!" Lavender chirped. Padma and Parvati nodded their greetings.

"No space here either..?" He sounded desperate

"Sorry, but the next compartment seemed quite empty." Neville muttered something and waved his goodbyes before shutting the door after himself. Surely it wouldn't be like this all the way to the school? If people kept going in and out Hitsugaya wouldn't be able to concentrate on his book. And he really wanted to concentrate on his book so he wouldn't have to converse with the other people in the compartment.

"Poor Neville." Parvati said and shook her head. After a while the girls were immersed in their own conversation (the main topics seemed to be good looking boys and dating, Hitsugaya had pointedly ignored them when they had commented that he might grow up to be quite handsome as well) and the two other boys seemed just bored and did absolutely nothing. The train left the station, gathering speed slowly.

After a while Hitsugaya stood up, folded the corner of the page he was reading and put the book back down on his seat. "Where are you going?" Parvati asked.

"…Bathroom."

"Oh… you know where they are?" Hitsugaya nodded, he had passed them when he had searched for an empty compartment. "Okay then!" And she turned to listen to Padma as she told about some girl in her year. Hitsugaya passed the other boys and left the compartment, turning right to get to where he remembered the toilets to be. He heard the compartment door open and close behind him and looked over his shoulder to see Brian come after him. The shy boy looked at him carefully.

"Umm… Do you mind if I go with you? I don't where the toilets are and… umm…" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. Truth to be told, he had left the compartment to escape from the constant chatter and other people so he could have a moment to calm his nerves.

"No, I don't mind." Well, he really couldn't just say no to him since the favor was so small. Besides, the boy seemed so shy that he probably wouldn't start any conversations.

"…So umm, your name's kinda funny, are you from China?"

Wrong.

"…No, from Japan."

"Wow… I've always wanted to go abroad but we don't really have the money to go to vacations outside England." Hitsugaya nodded and opened the door to the bathroom compartment, Brian still following him. The shy boy went straight to a stall while Hitsugaya just washed his face and left the compartment, standing outside it, waiting for Brian. If he didn't, the boy would just think that Hitsugaya was being mean.

Soon the boy came out and seemed rather surprised to see Hitsugaya.

"I thought you left…"

"…" He started walking towards their compartment, Brian at his heels. A black haired girl passed them, looking rather red at the face. Hitsugaya briefly wondered what had her running so fast but decided that it didn't matter. He opened the door to their compartment and froze at the door. Inside wasn't the girl trio and Richard, as he had expected, but four other people, of which three were covered with some residue. The fourth, quite clean person, had been saved from the goo by her magazine, by the looks of it. All the people inside the compartment stared at him, one of them had her wand out. Hitsugaya scrunched his nose. The smell was horrible. Brian looked over Hitsugaya's shoulder.

"Um, I think we sit in the next one, Toshero."

"It's Toushiro." '…it's Hitsugaya.' He'd probably have to get used to being called by his first name. He turned to look at the still staring occupants in the compartment and bowed slightly. "Wrong compartment. Sorry for the intrusion." And he closed the door, now following Brian who entered the compartment next to the one with the smelly people. Now they were in the right compartment, the voices of the girls rang in Hitsugaya's ears the moment the door was opened. They sat down to the seats they had previously been in. After a while Padma sniffed the air.

"What's that smell?" At her question, the other girls started to sniff the air and even Richard sniffed the air a couple of times, even though he tried to hide it for some reason. Brian had reddened at the question.

"Next compartment's covered in some smelly goo." Was Hitsugaya's reply. He turned the page and started reading a new chapter, not caring about the weird looks he was given.

Hours later the train had arrived to Hogsmeade, a town of wizards and witches according to Parvati. They were all dressed in their uniforms (they had changed clothes in the train, girls first while the boys stood outside the compartment) and were waiting until there would enough space to get out of the train. It was already dark but luckily the train ride hadn't felt as long as it actually was. And after the girls had shared all their gossip they had quieted down some, allowing Hitsugaya to concentrate on his book.

After the crowd had thinned some they started towards the exit. The fresh air around him felt great after the long ride and he sucked his lungs full of it. Brian was next to him, stretching slightly and Richard was yawning, having just woken up from his nap. The girls were nowhere to be seen. They let the crowd lead them away from the train. "I wonder where we are supposed to go…" Brian said and Hitsugaya nodded.

"First years! First years this way! Line up here please!"

"There you have it." Richard said and the three boys started walking towards the woman who was shouting. Other first years were also gathering around her. With strange feeling of satisfaction, he noticed that he actually wasn't the shortest one around. He was actually one of the tallest! He didn't let the fact that he was actually older than all the other kids here ruin his joy. They waited for a while in line while the woman was gathering all the first years together. After a while the crowd had thinned; the older students had headed somewhere, leaving all the first years with the woman who now stood in front of them all.

"It seems you're all here. I am Professor Grubbly-Plank, Substitute teacher of Care of Magical Creatures. I'll be escorting you to the castle. Follow me." And she turned and started walking, all the first years following her. They walked down a dark steep path, people were slipping and falling here and there and a girl in front of Hitsugaya was actually crying and clinging to her friend, muttering that she hated the dark. Hitsugaya helped Brian stay up whenever the boy almost fell. After sometime of walking the surrounding forest suddenly ended, and they could see a large lake, and on the other side of its dark surface, a large castle. It was a beautiful view. They continued their way to the shore, where many boats were waiting for them. Professor Grubbly-Plank turned to address all the students.

"Only four people in each boat!" And so they started filing into the boats. Hitsugaya, Richard and Brian shared a boat with another boy who introduced himself as Euan. After everyone was seated, the boats started moving at Professor Grubbly-Plank's command, sailing through the dark water. The boats were heading towards the castle that stood proudly in all of its greatness on top of a cliff. This was truly a magical place, Hitsugaya thought.

"What's that!" Everyone looked to the pointed direction. The girl that had cried in the forest screamed and started crying again. There was a large tentacle emerging from the water, not too far from Hitsugaya and co's boat. As the tentacle went back underwater, Brian, Euan and Richard all looked over the left side of the boat at the dark water, trying to see the creature that owned the tentackle.

"Oi! You can't all go there!" Hitsugaya shouted as the boat lurched to the side where the three boys were, Hitsugaya' side rising dangerously high in the air.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa!" The three boys tried to clamber backwards but couldn't. Hitsugaya quickly reached and grabbed the nearest boy's (who happened to be Euan) back of the robe and pulled hard, making the boy fall backwards and the boat lurched back down, swaying dangerously and finally calming down again.

"Everyone calm down! And you there, stop playing around!" Came professor Grubbly-Plank's voice. "We'll soon reach the harbor, everyone keep your heads down!" Indeed they were nearly under the castle. Hitsugaya could see a low cave in the cliff, in which the harbor probably was located. As the boat glided into the cave, they lowered their heads to avoid the hanging ivy. The cave's tunnel led to a small harbor and they climbed off the boats and were led by Grubbly-Plank up a passageway until they were outside, right before the castle, its shadow looming over them. Next they climbed some stairs to finally reach the castle doors. Grubbly-Plank knocked and the doors flew open; warm air greeted them and many looked happy to be finally inside. There was another woman, probably a professor as well, waiting for them inside, her expression stern.

"Thank you Professor Grubbly-Plank, I'll take them from here." Grubbly-Plank nodded and wished everyone good luck before disappearing through a door. "I am Minerva McGonagall, the head of Gryffindor house and Transfiguration teacher. I will soon take you to the Great hall for your sorting but first, leave your trunks here and follow me." And she led them to a rather small room, considering their numbers.

"The next step is your sorting. You will be lining up before the rest of the students, in front of the teachers table. I will be calling you one by one and you will be sorted to one of the four houses. The houses are Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. The houses compete with each others for House Cup, which will be given at the end of the school year to the house with most points. You can earn points with good behavior and hard work and you will lose points when you break rules. I hope all of you will work hard to become a great asset to which ever house you will be sorted to! Now, before all this, I am going to make sure that they are ready for us. Take the chance and smarten yourselves up." With these words Professor McGonagall exited the room through a door that most likely led to the Great hall.

"How do you think they'll sort us?" Richard asked.

"By a hat! My brother is in the seventh year and he told me all about it!" Brian said, smiling.

"…By a hat?" Hitsugaya asked.

"Yeah… It talks!" Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows. Things were getting weirder and weirder. Hitsugaya felt slightly nervous or maybe it was excitement? In the last few decades there hadn't been many things that made him feel excited, since he really didn't enjoy killing and fighting like Zaraki did. But ever since he had become a shinigami, the only things that happened were battles and the occasional disaster caused by a group of drunken vice-captains (plus captain Kyoraku).

Suddenly the doors opened and they could see into the Grand Hall, where all the other students were sitting. Professor McGonagall told them to form a line and follow her. Hitsugaya looked around him and sighed. No one moved, they all seemed petrified; he'd have to go first.

"Let's go." And he started walking towards the teachers table that was at the far end of the hall. Hitsugaya looked around the Grand hall. There were four long tables and around them sat the members of each of the four houses. And somewhere among those students was Harry Potter. Dumbledore had said that Hitsugaya would learn who Potter was really quickly, and so Hitsugaya had thought that the Potter boy would be some oddball that'd stand out from the crowd. However, now that he scanned through the students, he couldn't find anyone that would fit his mind's image. So he shifted his attention to someone else. There in the middle of the teacher's table sat the man that was the only one who knew Hitsugaya's real reason to be here and his real identity. Hitsugaya's and Dumbledore's eyes met and Dumbledore gave him the tiniest nod. Hitsugaya decided not to respond in anyway. They lined up before the teachers table, facing the other students, who were murmuring amongst themselves. To many first years' shock, they could see ghosts sitting with the students. Hitsugaya wasn't shocked about seeing ghosts as much as he was shocked about the fact that everyone else could see them. But then again, he shouldn't be so surprised, the wizards could see him and he was only a bit more than a ghost.

Professor McGonagall came in front of them, carrying a four legged stool and on top of the stool an old hat. This was probably the talking hat. It was old, dirty and patched up. After the stool and hat were in place, McGonagall took a roll of parchment from the teachers table and stood aside. The hall fell silent and everyone stared at the hat. Hitsugaya felt like an idiot. But then suddenly it started singing. Hitsugaya's mouth fell open. The rip in the hat was its mouth. The song sounded more like a warning and it unsettled Hitsugaya. He really, _really_ didn't need any problems with this mission. He would probably have to meddle with their affairs if the school was somehow involved. 'I wish I had died a bit older…' Then it would be some other unfortunate shinigami in his place (probably Kuchiki Rukia or Hanatarou, thanks to their youthful looks).

After the hat was done with his song, it was lifeless once again. Professor McGonagall walked next to the stool, opened the parchment roll and called the first name on the list. "Abercrombie, Euan!" Euan who stood next to Hitsugaya swallowed and nervously sat down on the stool. McGonagall placed the hat on his head (although the hat fell so that it covered half of his face). There was a moment of silence and then suddenly:

"GRYFFINDOR" The table second from the right applauded and cheered. Euan took the hat from his head and staggered to the table, red faced.

"Barker, Holly!" A black haired girl ran to the stool and put the hat on.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the right cheered and Holly ran to sit next to girl that looked slightly similar to her. Sisters, Hitsugaya realized. More and more students were called and sorted. Then finally it was Hitsugaya's turn. He calmly walked to the stool, sat down and was just going to put the hat on his head. It only touched the tip of his spiky hair when it yelled:

"GRYFFINDOR!" Hitsugaya blinked. That was fast. It took the Gryffindors a second to realize this as well and they started cheering and applauding. Hitsugaya stood up and walked to the table. Euan made space for him and Hitsugaya sat next to the boy who gave him a weak smile. He shifted his eyes back to the sorting. Soon it was Richard's turn.

"Matthews, Richard!" Richard sat on the stool for a full minute before the hat yelled out

"RAVENCLAW!" The table next to Gryffindor applauded and Richard took a seat next to one of the other first years. After sometime Brian was sorted to Hufflepuff and he walked there, looking at the Gryffindor table. An older student smiled at him and clapped with the Hufflepuffs. Brian had mentioned that he had a brother in the school, this student was probably him. Brian looked disappointed but still managed to smile and wave at his brother. The sorting continued and finally it was time for the last one to be sorted, she was Zeller Rose and she became a Hufflepuff.

Dumbledore rose to his feet and started the feast. On the golden plates that were set on the tables appeared different kinds of foods. Hitsugaya was hungry after the long train ride and waiting game so he wasted no time gathering food on his plate. There were many unfamiliar dishes that he was reluctant to try so he kept mostly to the vegetable dishes. Euan was talking about his family to a girl that sat opposite to him. Hitsugaya wasn't listening to the conversation, but he was scanning the table for Harry Potter. He couldn't see any weirdoes even now that he was sitting at the table.

"How about you, Toushiro?"

"Huh?" He turned to look at Euan. The girl opposite to Euan was looking at him, as well as her friend. Now that Hitsugaya actually looked at the girl he realized that she was the one that had cried on their way to the castle.

"Are your parents muggle or wizards?"

"Muggle."

"So it was a surprise to you that you were a wizard?" The girl opposite to Hitsugaya asked, flicking her long blonde hair behind her.

"Pretty much." Hell, it had been a surprise to him that magic actually existed in the mortal world and that he hadn't known about it, even though he was a captain!

"Are from England? I mean your name's so Asian…" the crybaby-girl asked.

"No, I'm from Japan."

"Doesn't Japan have wizarding schools?"

"I don't know. I just got the letter that I should come here."

"Oh, okay." Hitsugaya wondered if he should ask about Harry Potter, but then figured that it'd be suspicious; coming from a muggle family, he shouldn't be able to know about the boy so he had to wait until someone mentioned the boy first. This was all very tedious, having to constantly make sure that he didn't slip anything that'd rise suspicions. Although he really doubted whether there were people who could put two and two together and realize that something wasn't right, but he really didn't want to take the risk. After all, even Kurosaki had turned out to be surprisingly bright.

After the feast Dumbledore introduced himself and the new staff. A woman cut his speech and something inside Hitsugaya snapped to place. That woman (who for some reason reminded him of Hiyosu, the mutant-like researcher in the Research and Development bureau) had to be from the ministry.' An enemy in their territory' and a powerful one at that, it seemed. All the other teachers seemed rather angry and bothered by the woman. Dumbledore on the other hand seemed quite calm, as if the woman didn't bother him at all. His calmness reminded Hitsugaya of Yamamoto and he immediately knew that Dumbledore was a strong leader. Hitsugaya's respect for the man grew.

After the speech the students rose and started moving out from the Great hall. Hitsugaya wondered if they were supposed to just follow the other students.

"Hey, hey you lot! Midgets!" Hitsugaya glared at the direction the voice came from, a red head boy who was now scolded by a girl with bushy hair. After a quick fight of words, she turned to the first years.

"First years! This way please!" And she and the red-head guided them from the Great hall and up the stairs in the entrance hall. "I am Hermione Granger and this is Ron Weasley, we are the Gryffindor prefects. If you have anything to ask or need help with something, you can ask us for help!" Weasley…probably one of Molly Weasley's children. The first years nodded and Hermione beamed at them. She obviously liked her "job". The prefects showed them a route to the Gryffindor tower that was easy to remember and told them slightly of the castle. Well… Hermione told them about the castle, Ron said almost nothing during the "tour". He just badmouthed Peeves, the castle's Poltergeist after he and some other poor people had been thrown with water balloons by the ghost. During the tour, all the first years had noticed that the paintings on the walls could move and talk. Hitsugaya really wondered how it was possible. To move, things needed a soul and it should be impossible for one to insert a soul into an object that had no soul in the first place. He had a whole lot of questions to Dumbledore. If there was a case of souls entrapped in those paintings then Dumbledore would be in more trouble than he already seemed to be.

"Here we are." They stopped before a painting of a fat woman in pink. "This is the Fat Lady; to get inside the Gryffindor house you need a password which is Mimbulus Mimbletonia. The password changes once a year, after the Christmas holidays. Try to remember the password, since it is not good to have it written somewhere. There was some trouble the last time someone wrote the passwords down…" The looks Hermione and Ron switched raised his curiosity, what had happened? Euan leaned towards Hitsugaya.

"I heard that Sirius Black snuck in with those passwords and tried to kill Harry Potter." Euan knew Harry Potter? And there was some other that tried to kill the boy besides Voldemort? Why hadn't he been told about this?

"Who's Sirius Black?" Hitsugaya whispered.

"A murderer, he escaped from Azkaban, a wizarding prison two years ago and is still on the run!" Oh, great… Hitsugaya checked to see if Hermione was still talking and sure enough she was.

"…And who's Harry Potter?"

"You don't know Harry Potter?" Hitsugaya gave the boy a look. "Oh! Oh… that's right you're muggle born. Sorry, I forgot. Well Harry Potter is the only one who has survived the killing curse and he somehow killed You-Know-Who." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. Why were these people so afraid to say the name?

"So, without further ado," Hermione turned to the fat Lady "Mimbulus Mimbletonia!" The portrait swung open, showing a hidden hole on the wall. On the other side of the hole they could see a room. "Everyone climb through the hole and wait in the common room!" One by one the first years climbed through the hole. Hitsugaya looked around him. It was very…cozy. There were many chairs and tables, a fire place and you could see the yard from the window. The main colors were gold and red. It was all very… warm. And it was nice, although Hitsugaya preferred cool air to warm. But as long as the air wasn't too hot, he'd be fine.

After everyone had climbed to the common room, the portrait swung closed again, hiding the entrance. "So, this is the common room. On the right are the girls' dormitories and on the left are the boys' dormitories. You should find your names in some of the doors and your belongings inside the rooms. So girls, you can follow me. Ron will show you boys the way." So they divided to two groups. Euan and Hitsugaya followed the Weasley boy who looked like he'd like nothing more than to get rid of them.

"Let's go." Ron led them up a spiral stair way and soon they found their rooms. Hitsugaya was roomed with Euan and three other boys who introduced themselves as Andrew, Connor and Titus. Hitsugaya walked to his bed (well, at least his trunk was next to it) and opened his trunk, taking out his pajamas and toothbrush. He also took the realm bag out and threw it on the bed. He couldn't be happier about the fact that the four poster bed had curtains. He could take Hyorinmaru out of the bag whenever he pleased when those curtains were closed!

"So, did you see Harry Potter! I can't believe he dared to come back to school!" The one named Connor said, while combing through his brown hair. Hitsugaya snapped his eyes to the boy. He knew Potter? "I mean after all that he has said!"

"What has he said?" Hitsugaya asked, sitting down. Connor looked at him like he was an idiot. Titus came from the bathroom and walked to his own bed.

"He's saying You-Know-Who's back."

"Nuts, isn't he?" Connor laughed. Andrew nodded.

"Dumbledore believes him though." Euan said.

"Yeah, but the man's ancient, he's losing his marbles!" Connor threw his shirt off, pulling his pajamas on. Titus shook his head.

"My ma said that she believes Potter and Dumbledore because the way You-Know-Who disappeared was so weird." Connor glared at the boy.

"How did he disappear? What happened?" These boys seemed to know surprisingly much. How lucky could he be, rooming with people who seemed to know so much about Potter. Although it seemed to Hitsugaya that he and Connor would not get along… The boy was an utter ass.

"Don't you know anything?"

"He's from a muggle family." Euan said and Hitsugaya nodded.

"Oh."

"Well the story is that You-Know-Who went to kill Potter and murdered his family, but couldn't murder Harry. And that he died trying. Harry was only one year old back then. But they never found You-Know-Who's body, even though he supposedly died." Titus explained.

"…That's it?"

"Yeah."

"…" Well that wasn't informative at all. Titus yawned.

"Well I'm going to sleep. Turn the lights off when you're ready, will ya?" Hitsugaya nodded, everyone else was all ready for bed. Hitsugaya changed his clothes and turned the lights off. "G'night."

Hitsugaya shut the curtains and opened the realm bag, silently pulling Hyorinmaru out. He put the bag aside and lay down, hugging the Zanpaktou. The familiar rumbling in his mind lulled him to sleep as he closed his eyes.

Yes! Finally!  
All of you were saying that you didn't mind longer chapters so I decided to stop worrying. I hope I didn't bore you with this chapter, as I am not quite satisfied with it myself. But I couldn't put my finger on what was wrong, so this will have to do for now. I might rewrite this someday.

SO! About few things:  
I absolutely wanted to put Hitsugaya in Ravenclaw, just to make things more interesting for us and harder for him. However, I decided to put him in Gryffindor. Why? Because when I really thought about it I came to the conclusion that with his temperament, he can't be a Ravenclaw. Although Hitsugaya is very smart, he makes rash choices when his loved ones are in danger. This is a Gryffindor trait in my mind. I feel that even in a situation where your loved ones were in danger, a Ravenclaw could keep his/her cool and analyze the situation. Just think of how he acted when he found Hinamori after Aizen had nearly killed her. Hitsugaya didn't stop to think, he just chared and nearly got himself killed! Thus, Hitsugaya is a Gryffindor.

Next subject:  
Okay, so we've most likely all noticed that Hitsugaya is a very good looking young man (a fictional one unfortunately, but aren't they all?) so I see no reason why the people in this fic wouldn't notice it. BUT! I will not pair Hitsugaya with anyone; this isn't that kind of a story. But there will definitely be a lot of one-sided crushes. I can't help it, just trying to keep things realistic! :D

The snowfall:  
The idea of snow falling when Hitsugaya represses his reiatsu for long is straight from the second movie: Diamond Dust Rebellion. I love that movie! Hitsugaya is so wonderful in it!

"He'd have to ask Dumbledore where he could "let loose" without making any students lose their consciousness."  
This idea came from the series, where Ise Nanao cannot move when Yamamoto releases his reiatsu. Being a vice-captain, she as a fairly high reiryoku so I figured that a captain class shinigami letting their reiatsu flow freely would result in normal people losing their consciousness.

By the way, all the clothes Hitsugaya will be wearing are from the manga/anime or some of the most popular wallpapers on the net. This way I can be sure that you'll know what kind of clothes I mean.

So, without any further ado: I hope you've enjoyed the story this far, please leave a comment and tell me what you think. And big thanks to those who have left reviews so far, you've been a great source of motivation for me!

So, until next chapter!

-Pureya


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
Taichou means captain  
Soutaichou means captain-commander  
Shinigami means death reaper  
Seireitei is where the shinigami reside  
Soul Society consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
Reiatsu means spiritual pressure  
Reiryoku means spiritual energy  
You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 5**

The next morning Hitsugaya woke an hour earlier than his roommates. He decided to use the time to meditate and converse with Hyorinmaru, who had already been angry about the few days of being kept in the realm bag. Hitsugaya promised the dragon that it'd get some exercise and that they would not spent the whole year cooped up in the dormitories doing homework.

Roommates and homework… Hitsugaya felt like he had been demoted. It was like he had been sent back to the academy, and his memories from those days were less than pleasant. Hitsugaya briefly wondered whether he'd be as shunned here as he had been at the academy. So far no one seemed to mind his rather peculiar looks. Maybe it was common for wizards to look a bit weird?

Hitsugaya opened his eyes, hearing the boy in the next bed stirring and sitting up. Silently Hitsugaya placed the blade in its sheath and once again put Hyorinmaru back into the bag, promising to take it out at night again. The disapproving growl turned to slight echo in his mind as he shut the realm bag and opened the curtains. In the next bed, Euan was looking at nothing in particular, a bit of saliva running down his chin. When the boy himself noticed this, he swiped the saliva away with his sleeve. This simple motion seemed to consume a lot of energy. Then Euan looked at him.

"Morning." Hitsugaya smirked. He wasn't really a morning person himself, but years of having to wake up early had trained him well.

"Morning." Hitsugaya climbed off his bed, heading for the bathroom. Might as well start his morning rituals and get the day started. When he came back, Titus and Connor were both awake. Andrew was still in his bed, his arm dangling over the edge of the bed.

"I really don't want to go to classes…" Euan moaned. Titus nodded, yawing and stretching. Connor just snorted, not having the energy to even give a good reply.

"Me neither…" Andrew mumbled. Hitsugaya decided not to answer in any way. He was actually curious about the classes. He'd get to learn mortal magic and see how much it differed from kidou. Kidou needed a lot of reiryoku to work so Hitsugaya was especially curious about what powers magic used. He took his school bag and left it on the bed, ready to be filled with the books he'd need that day. Hitsugaya pulled the school robes from his trunk and frowned when he saw the Gryffindor insignia in the front. It had appeared over night and he had no idea how. The idea of someone going through his stuff had him extremely worried. Had someone seen the realm bag and Hyorinmaru?

After half an hour Andrew had pulled himself off the bed and smartened himself up enough that the whole group dared to leave their room. Euan was continuously talking about something to Hitsugaya, who mostly nodded and "hmm"ed. Titus was arguing with Connor and Andrew was agreeing with everything the latter said.

"Hey what's that?" Connor stopped and walked to the notice board that hung on the common-room wall. On it was a large sign.

"Galleons of Galleons, pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings? Like to earn little extra gold? Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room, for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs. We regret that all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk." Titus read the sign out loud. 'Weasleys again… they're everywhere!' Hitsugaya thought.

"Want to check it out?" Euan asked.

"Of course! It sounds like easy money!" Connor said.

"What about you, Toushiro?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"'Virtually painless' and 'all work is undertaken at applicant's own risk' doesn't sound too inviting."

"Scared, are you?" Connor said and Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. He couldn't understand the other boy's continuing need to argue.

"What about Titus and Andrew, are you guys going to try it out?"

"Nah, I think Toushiro has a point, besides I don't think I'll need the extra money."

"Oh… Andrew?"

"Umm… Well… I'll think about it…"

"What do you mean you'll think about it? Of course you'll go!" Connor said and slapped the other boy's back. Andrew gave a shaky smile.

"O…O-okay then!"

"Okay, well I'll try it out as well!"

"Can we go?" Toushiro asked and without waiting turned to leave the common-room. He could hear the others follow him. Connor, Andrew and Euan were guessing what kind of a part-time job was in question and Titus was whistling to himself. Hitsugaya sighed; were these people the ones he would be spending most of his year with?

The Great Hall was already filled with people when they arrived. They found themselves a spot and sat down, gathering food on their plates. Soon Hitsugaya noticed Titus watching him.

"What?"

"…Dude, you really must be hungry…" Hitsugaya looked down on his plate and then at the other boys' plates he had at least three times more food on his plate as the others. Hitsugaya shrugged. Of course he had a big appetite. The more power you wielded, the more energy you needed, and easiest way to get energy was eating. And then of course there was the fact that whoever made the food really knew how to cook.

"You'll get fat." Euan said as he watched Hitsugaya eat.

"Hasn't happened yet. Besides, I'm still growing…" Oh, how he hoped that was true… yet the last decade didn't make him feel too reassured on that matter. Aging was slow when you're dead, and in Hitsugaya's case, it seemed to be even slower. Even his hair refused to grow!

"Hmmph!" A red headed girl near them glared at Hitsugaya.

"What's your problem?" Connor asked.

"You guys have it so easy! Eating like pigs and not gaining a pound!" Hitsugaya looked at the girl's plate; she seemed to think that one apple would get her through the day.

"Oh yeah? Well we work it off you know!" Euan said and Titus started laughing. "What?"

"Oh, it's just too funny! We're 11! I don't think kids our age should worry about such things." The read headed girl opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted.

"Is there a problem?" Everyone's attention turned to the owner of the voice: Professor McGonagall.

"No professor." The read head and Euan chorused.

"Good. I would be very disappointed if first thing in the morning I had to take points from the members of my own house!" She gave them all their timetables and continued down the table.

"…She's kinda scary." Andrew said and Euan and Titus nodded. Hitsugaya looked at the paper in his hand. First two periods were Transfiguration, then an hour of Charms, lunch, double Herbology and an hour of History of Magic. It sounded all very interesting.

"I hate history…" Hitsugaya heard the red haired girl mutter under her breath.

"I'm glad we don't have Potions until tomorrow! I heard that the teacher's horrible." Titus said.

"I heard those rumors too." Andrew said.

"Look! The mail is here!" Hitsugaya looked where Connor pointed and sure enough about a hundred owls flew in from the high windows, carrying envelopes and small packages to the students. "I hope mom found my history book…" It seemed that Connor's wish was granted as a large brown owl flew towards the boy, carrying a brown package, shaped like a book. The owl landed straight into the boy's cereal. Hitsugaya looked as Connor cursed and took the package. "Don't wait for a piece of bacon after ruining my breakfast!" He said to the owl. The Owl seemed to get angry and bit the boy's finger before it flew off. Hitsugaya felt something hit his head and his hand flew to his hair. A letter had been dropped on him. As he took the letter, the owl that had carried it landed on his shoulder, digging its talons deep enough to draw a few drops of blood. Hitsugaya took a couple pieces of bacon from his own plate and gave them to the owl that gave a grateful hoot and took the bacon and flew off.

Hitsugaya looked at the letter. It was indeed addressed to him. He recognized the handwriting immediately. It was from Dumbledore. Hitsugaya opened the letter and read it.

_Dear Hitsugaya-san _

_I hope you are enjoying your stay in the castle so far. I regret that I could not meet you personally before the start of the term. _

_I would like to meet you tonight in my office at 00.00 sharp. If I have understood your skills correctly, it should be no problem for you to sneak out of the dormitories. My office is located on the sixth floor. The entrance is hidden behind a hippogriff gargoyle (A hippogriff is a creature that is half eagle and half horse). The password is Fizzing Whizzbee._

_Please make sure no one else reads this. _

_Yours sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Hitsugaya stuffed the letter inside his pocket and continued eating.

"Who was it from?" Hitsugaya looked at Euan and then back down on his food.

"From home. Asking how everything is…"

"Oh. So are they still in Japan?"

"Who?"

"…Your family."

"Oh. Yes."

"You came here alone?"

"Yes."

"Isn't that dangerous? Or illegal?"

"Maybe."

Euan rolled his eyes, obviously not happy about Hitsugaya's lack of interest in talking about himself. The boy seemed to think a while before completely giving up and turning to discuss something with Titus.

After breakfast they had gone to the dormitories, packed their school bags and ran to their first period. Hitsugaya took a seat at front, wanting to be able to see clearly what the teacher would do. The other boys (after getting over the shock of someone voluntarily sitting in the front row) took seats in the back. Hitsugaya didn't mind, he preferred to work alone. Soon everyone had filed in and had taken their seats and they all quieted as Professor McGonagall entered the room. She walked to the front and faced them all.

"First, I would like you all to know, that messing around in this class has severe consequences. Transfiguration is a very complex field of magic and can be dangerous, so I will not tolerate playing around!" She looked at all of them, her eyes slightly narrowed. The whole class seemed to hold their breath under her piercing gaze. After she had made sure that the words had indeed been heard and understood by the students she nodded and turned to the board, taking out her wand.

"First we will go over the theory part and later we will start practicing transfiguration." She waved her wand and word appeared on the board. "You should all copy this." Hitsugaya took his pen and started taking notes, not only writing the words that were written, but writing down some things that the professor said. Hitsugaya wondered if anyone else noticed how much extra info she was giving them by giving them examples.

They took notes for little over an hour, and many people were complaining how their wrists hurt when McGonagall finally told them to take out their wands. Hitsugaya's wand felt alien in his hand; it was so thin and light compared to the size and weight of Hyorinmaru.

"Mr. Hitsugaya, would you mind giving everyone one of these matches? Thank you." Hitsugaya took the offered matchbox and gave all of his classmates one match. He then returned to his own seat. "Does everyone have a match? Good. Now we are going to turn those matches to needles by the means of magic. Watch closely." Professor McGonagall took a match herself, waved her wand in a small circle, and then a straight horizontal line saying: "_Assula Flamifera Suere_!" The match changed before their eyes, becoming thinner and shiner and pointy. A collective "Oooh!" could be heard from the students. Hitsugaya had leaned forward to see exactly what she had done.

"Thank you. Now, you must do the precise movements with your wands and say the spell correctly. Let's try it. Repeat: _Assula Flamifera Suere._" The class repeated the words many times and after that everyone had to say it once alone and McGonagall corrected them if there was something wrong in their pronouncing.

"Good. Now let's move on to the wand work. First you need to make a small circle and then a straight line to the right. Keep your wrist movement soft and light, do not make any stiff movements. Like this." They practiced the wand work for a while and then McGonagall announced that they should start trying the actual spell on their matches. She'd walk among the students, watching how they were doing.

Hitsugaya looked at the match. It was tiny. What if he missed it and hit the table? Would it turn to a large needle (presuming he did the spell correctly)? Deciding to forget such worrying questions Hitsugaya raised his wand and pointed at the match. "_Assula Flamifera Suere!"_ He did the needed wand work… and nothing happened. He looked at the match more closely. Yep, still just a match. He looked around him and noticed all the others had the same unsure expression. Good, he wasn't the only one that hadn't succeeded. Hitsugaya took a deep breath and released it. He looked at the match. He could do this.

"_Assula Flamifera Suere!_" The match was set on fire. Hitsugaya stared, his eye twitching. He put out the small flame with his fingers and kept trying. And trying. And trying…

When the class was over Hitsugaya felt like snapping the damn match into two pieces. He had succeeded in encasing the match in ice, burning it, getting it wet and making it explode. Finally he had made it look like a needle… just a wooden one but it earned their house ten points. Magic seemed to be tricky. McGonagall had told him that his problem was that he'd use too much force while doing the wand movements, and that's why he couldn't get the wanted results. Hitsugaya had fought the urge to snort at her when she told him this; after all he had wielded a sword for decades now, changing sword to a twig was bound to cause some problems.

"Wow Toushiro! You almost did it!" Euan said. His eyes were shining with admiration.

"Yeah…" Hitsugaya himself was not that thrilled.

"I got loads of homework…" Euan continued.

"No wonder. You set the whole table on fire." Connor said. Euan glared at the boy. Connor seemed to be quite satisfied with himself; he had been able to make the needle eye to his match and thus had the best results after Hitsugaya.

"Argh… I hope Charms isn't as hard…" Andrew said. Titus nodded. He was seemed to be in a bad mood after the class, but then again it wasn't a surprise; after all, half of his right sleeve had burned when Euan had set the table on fire.

They hurried towards the Charms class, asking directions from the paintings and some older students. When they arrived to the class room their teacher was already there. He was a tiny white haired and bearded man and had stand on a pile of books just to so he could be seen behind his table. Connor, Euan and Andrew quickly took seats at the back, while Hitsugaya took a seat in the front row with Titus, who seemed to think that sitting with Hitsugaya was way more danger-free. After everyone had found their way to the class room, the Professor introduced himself as professor Flitwick and they started writing some notes. They wrote notes the whole hour and the class left the room slightly disappointed that they didn't get to practice any magic, but Flitwick had promised that they'd use their next classes solely for practice.

After lunch they had Herbology with Hufflepuffs and Professor Sprout, a rather plump nice witch. They potted some plants in pairs; Hitsugaya had paired with Euan while Connor was working with Andrew and Titus with another boy whose name Hitsugaya didn't know. Hitsugaya saw Brian who waved and smiled at him and Hitsugaya waved back before concentrating on what Professor Sprout was saying about Herbology. Planting was rather hard, especially since the plants themselves tried to strangle you and squirm away from your grip. After two hours of grueling wrestling with plants, the class was dismissed and a group of very dirty and angry first years walked back to the castle. Hitsugaya and his dorm mates headed to the bathroom to clean themselves up before they headed to their last lesson that was History of Magic.

Hitsugaya took once again a seat in the front row with Titus as the other boys took their seats in the back. Everyone wondered where their teacher was, the class would start in only a minute and all the other teachers had been well on time. It came as a surprise when a ghost suddenly glided into the room through the blackboard. The ghost stopped next to the teacher's table and looked over the now silent class.

"Abercrombie Euan?" His voice was rather airy. Euan gave a start and replied, his voice slightly quivering.

"Yes?"

"Becker Grace?" A girl in the back raised her hand uncertainly.

"Carter Hailey?" Another girl raised her hand. Then it hit Hitsugaya; he was taking the register! The ghost was their teacher! The realization seemed to hit others as well as their expressions changed from confused to understanding.

When Hitsugaya's name was called he raised his hand and the ghost looked at him. And continued to look at him. Hitsugaya returned the stare and for a while everything was quiet. Then the ghost continued like nothing happened, leaving everyone confused, Hitsugaya included.

"Webb Owen" The boy Titus had paired with in Herbology answered with a small "here". Then without any warning, the Professor turned and started writing on the blackboard and launched into a speech about the first goblin wars. Everyone hurried to take out their books and notebooks, scribbling as fast as they could. It soon turned out that such hurry was unnecessary, as the Professor seemed to go on and on about the same thing. His voice was really uninteresting and Hitsugaya soon noticed that although Titus looked like he was listening, his eyes had glazed over and his mouth was slightly ajar. Hitsugaya shook his head and took notes, listening to every word the ghost said. Maybe it was his military position that had made him interested in war stories and now allowed him to resist the drowsiness that every other student had been swallowed by.

When the bell rang the Professor told them their homework and then glided through the blackboard, leaving the students to their own devices. Hitsugaya kicked Titus who jolted awake from his daydream looking around dazedly. He looked at his own rather short notes and then at Hitsugaya's far longer ones. "How much did I miss?" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. True, the Professor (who had forgotten to introduce himself) had only scribbled ten or so lines on the black board but Hitsugaya had written down a lot of the things the ghost had said.

"I'll let you copy mine later…" Titus nodded and started gathering his things as Hitsugaya waited. Out of the four boys in his dormitory, Titus seemed like the safest one to be around. He didn't ask too many questions and overall didn't seem to care about scandals yet was still talkative enough to provide company. Connor, Andrew and Euan waited them at the doorway.

"What should we do now?" Euan asked.

"First the dorms and then dinner. I'm starving." Connor said, leading their little gang towards the Gryffindor tower.

"Um… did any of you catch what we had to do for homework in History of Magic…?" Andrew asked. Titus looked at Hitsugaya who sighed.

"Was I the only one listening?" The others nodded in unison. Hitsugaya could feel his frustration rising. He hoped that the other boys wouldn't start depending on him like Matsumoto did. "Fine. I'll tell you later. But you won't get any help from me."

"Sounds fair." Euan said and smiled.

After dinner Hitsugaya found himself sitting on his bed doing homework. The other boys had decided to go out and have a look around the castle grounds, so Hitsugaya was able work in silence, just like he preferred. And now with the other boys gone, he could take Hyorinmaru out in the open as well, although he still made sure that the curtains were tightly closed just in case his roommates decided to come back too soon.

While we was working on his homework, Hitsugaya briefly wondered if Matsumoto was doing her work back in Soul Society. The image of his office filled with undone paperwork haunted him and he decided that he'd sent a letter to Ukitake as well when he'd send his report. He needed some reassurance. Maybe he should send a letter to Hinamori as well… just to ask how she was doing. After all, she had been pretty down when he had left. And he'd have to ask for a report about the new communicator as well… so another letter to Kurotsuchi (okay okay… to Akon). And maybe he should write a note to Kurosaki as well. He didn't want the boy reading through his mail. A death threat would probably be enough.

Of course, Hitsugaya could do none of these things before he knew how he could send letters from here. It was obvious after the breakfast that wizards used owls as mail carriers but Hitsugaya had absolutely no idea where he could get an owl. Well, everything would be clear once he'd talk to Dumbledore. He put his hand into his pocket and took out the letter he had received that morning. He had forgotten to throw the letter into the fire that had been lit in the common room fireplace. Sighing, Hitsugaya put the letter back into his pocket and turned his attention back to the essay he was writing for history of magic. He hated homework.

Two hours later Hitsugaya had finished all of his homework and was reading the Transfiguration text book when Connor, Euan and Andrew came in. Hitsugaya silently placed Hyorinmaru inside the bag once more before he continued reading.

"That was awesome!" Connor said and Euan laughed.

"Shh… Toushiro could be sleeping…!" Andrew said. Connor snorted.

"Only babies sleep at this hour!" Hitsugaya glared when his curtains were opened by the loud boy. "See? He's awake."

"You should have come with us! The giant squib or whatever it is showed up again, and it pulled its tentacle back underwater with such force that there was a huge wave that got everyone near the lake wet!" Euan hurried to explain. Hitsugaya looked at the three who indeed were dripping water on the floor.

"…Oh joy…" Hitsugaya said, he didn't find anything cool in being wet. Euan's enthusiasm seemed to dissipate some at Hitsugaya's reply. Connor rolled his eyes.

"He's just jealous. C'mon, let's change, we should go to the common room and see if we can find those Weasleys." Euan nodded.

"Where's Titus?" Hitsugaya asked.

"He's hanging out with Owen in the common room." Andrew said and pulled his shirt off. Hitsugaya nodded. He carefully folded the page he had been reading and put the book into his trunk. Connor looked at him.

"Decided to go with us after all?"

"Thought I'd look what you are made to do, that's all." It was true, he was curious about what madness the other boys would have to do. Besides, there was a still lot of time before his meeting with Dumbledore and he needed to pass time somehow. He headed down the stairs alone, not waiting for the three boys. When he reached the common room he headed straight towards the fire and threw the letter in it. The three older students that were sitting around the fire gave him weird looks. Hitsugaya recognized two of them as the prefects and nodded to them politely. Hermione nodded back, giving a small smile. Hitsugaya scanned the room and saw Titus sitting alone near the window in the back of the room. Hitsugaya walked to him.

"Hi." Titus said and Hitsugaya nodded.

"I thought you were with Owen?"

"He's there, with those Weasleys." Hitsugaya looked to the corner of the room where two older students, twins, were gathering first years around them. Hitsugaya sat next to Titus, watching with mild interest as the twins showed the first years something that looked like candy. Connor, Andrew and Euan hurried to the corner when they finally made it to the common room. Each of them were given "candy" and at the twins' mark, all of the first years swallowed the candy. At first nothing happened, but then suddenly the first years started dropping to the floor, one by one.

"Whoa! What the hell?" Titus yelled. Hitsugaya had a thousand thoughts in his head, of which the most absurd was probably that the twins were working with Voldemort and had tricked the first years into making a mass suicide. This was, of course quickly ruled out after the first shock and Hitsugaya decided to just observe. Molly Weasley had been such a nice woman that Hitsugaya seriously doubted that she had raised her sons to become mass murderers. And soon enough the first years started waking up and the twins went to check on each and every one of them. "I wonder what that was…"

"Me too… But it seems they're okay."

"Yeah, but it looks like those guys are I trouble. Look there she comes!" Hitsugaya looked where Titus pointed and saw Hermione making a beeline towards the group, her expression promising trouble.

"Well… I guess making other students lose consciousness one way or the other is considered breaking the rules."

"I guess so." They both looked as the girl spoke with the twins, who after a while send the first years away. Connor, Euan, Andrew and Owen headed towards them, all of them slightly swaying and Andrew looked just about ready to throw up.

"So… What happened?" Titus asked the other boys when they reached their table.

"They asked us to taste the new candy they had made… But we lost our consciousness after eating them." Owen said.

"Not a big success then." Titus concluded.

"I feel sick… I'm going to bed…" Andrew said.

"Wuss…" Connor said after Andrew had already left. He didn't look too good either. After a while of silence Owen suggested that they'd play cards and everyone agreed. They spent about three hours playing cards before Titus announced that he'd go and do some of his homework and the rest of the boys decided to do the same. Hitsugaya decided to get his Transfiguration book and read it in the common room, waiting for the time when he'd have to leave.

Slowly, but surely the common room started to empty of people, the last to leave were the Weasley twins just 20 minutes before midnight. Just ten minutes later Hitsugaya put his book down, leaving it to the table before he slipped out from the portrait hole. He made his way to the moving staircases and made his way to the sixth floor, searching for a gargoyle that looked like a horse fused with eagle. After a lot of running around Hitsugaya finally found a gargoyle that he believed to be the right one.

"Fizzing Whizzbee" The gargoyle moved aside, revealing a revolving staircase behind it, leading upwards. Hitsugaya took a step forwards and was slowly moving forward, hearing the gargoyle move back to its place. After a moment he could see a large oak door at the end of the spiraling staircase. When he reached it, Hitsugaya knocked three times and waited for an answer. The answer never came as the doors opened on their own and Hitsugaya could see Dumbledore sitting behind his working table, reading a letter. The older man looked up and smiled at Hitsugaya, putting the letter down.

"Please come in and sit down." Dumbledore motioned towards the chair that was in front of his table. Hitsugaya nodded and entered the room, looking around as he walked towards the chair. The room was circular, with a very high ceiling. On shelves were a lot of small gidgets and gadgets that made soft noises and around the table on the walls were many portraits of old wizards and witches, all of whom were eyeing him as curiously as he was eyeing them. Hitsugaya tried to hide his curiosity, but feared that he had not been quite successful as Dumbledore seemed rather amused.

"It is wonderful to finally meet you in person, Hitsugaya-san." Dumbledore said.

"Likewise." Hitsugaya bowed. He appreciated the man's use of honorifics, it made him feel a bit better to hear at least something familiar.

"So, have you been enjoying your stay so far?" Dumbledore asked. Hitsugaya felt slightly frustrated, he didn't want to waste time on chit chat when there were so many issues to talk over. But, he was a captain and would act like it. Patience was more than a virtue, it was a necessity.

"It has been interesting so far, yes." Dumbledore smiled, probably noticing that Hitsugaya hadn't really answered truthfully, but accepting the answer nonetheless.

"I hope you've managed to make some friends as well, a year alone is a long time, especially when one has to shoulder such responsibilities as you."

"That might be true to those who are still alive. I assure you that a year is considered quite a short period of time where I come from."

"Oh, I don't doubt that. Yet you must forgive me for forgetting your… situation… when you are in front of me, looking very much alive and well."

"…"

"Well, maybe we should move on, we have lots to discuss and I'm sure that you have some questions as well." Hitsugaya nodded, he did indeed have questions to the headmaster that would need answering. "What would you like to discuss first?"

"Let's start with Voldemort. Do you have anything new on him?" Hitsugaya hoped that the wizards would have already pinpointed the villain's location so he could just go and get rid of the problem. Judging from Dumbledore's expression however, Hitsugaya's hopes would be crushed on that matter.

"I'm afraid we haven't been able to find Lord Voldemort yet. He is very skilled at hiding and operating from the shadows. We have the wrath of the Ministry working against us as well, and it does make our jobs harder, seeing as most of the wizarding world is sure that I have lost my mind." Hitsugaya nodded. That much he already knew. There was still something he wondered.

"I would like to know why Voldemort is targeting Harry Potter. I heard bits and pieces of the story from my roommates but I would like know more." Dumbledore smiled sadly and sighed.

"It is a long story…"

"I have time."

"Alright then. Years ago, when Lord Voldemort was still in full power, a prophecy was made. The prophecy told of a boy who'd be the end of Voldemort. This, naturally worried Voldemort to the point that he searched for the Potter family, whose baby boy he believed to be the boy mentioned in the prophecy. When he finally found the Potters, he murdered Lily and James, Harry's parents, and tried to murder Harry. He however failed and was left weakened in a ghost like state. Harry received a scar on his forehead as a result of the attempted murder." Dumbledore paused, looking to see if Hitsugaya was still following the story.

"For a few years now, Voldemort has been trying to rise back to power but he has been stopped by Harry many times. But last june, Voldemort was successful in reviving his body and is now gathering allies."

"Last june… the same time the Diggory boy was found and we buried his soul." Dumbledore nodded gravely.

"Yes… Cedric was murdered with the killing curse that, if I have understood correctly, alerted you to our situation."

"Yes. It causes some problems for us as normal soul burial does not guide the souls of those who have been killed by the curse… Anyway, there's more to this story, isn't there?"

"Yes indeed, let me explain. The scar that Voldemort gave Harry now links their minds together." Hitsugaya's eyebrows shot upwards.

"Links them together?"

"Yes, we are afraid that Voldemort might be trying to control Harry by some means. But not to worry, it seems that Voldemort is unable take full control of Harry, or read his thoughts." Hitsugaya nodded, some of the worst case scenarios in his mind dissipating. "But there is a possibility that he might be able to insert some suggestions into Harry's mind and lure him out of the school. The boy is so adventurous that- I am sad to say- Voldemort doesn't even have to try that hard." Wonderful.

"I… see…"

"So, that is why I believe the fastest way to find Voldemort is to be near Harry. Of course, we are searching on our own as well and I will alert you if we find anything out."

"Alright. I will keep an eye on Potter then." Although Hitsugaya still didn't know who he even was… he'd have to directly ask about it from Titus sometime, the boy wouldn't ask too many questions. "Let's continue to other issues."

"Alright, this time I'd like to ask you something." Hitsugaya nodded, he had been warned by Yamamoto to not disclose too much information, but at the same he understood that Dumbledore wanted and needed to know about certain things to fully understand the current situation. "Firstly, you might have noticed the ghosts in the castle?" Hitsugaya nodded. "They have also noticed you, and are feeling rather confused. They say you feel different and some of them have actually guessed what you are. I have confirmed their beliefs." Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. So now all the ghosts knew? The ghosts that very much able to tell his secret to the whole school? "Of course, I made sure that they will not spread the word and ensured this by not telling Peeves."

"I'm still not sure that was a good idea… One of the students might hear them talk among themselves."

"I told them never to use your real name. However, I brought this up because some of the ghosts have come forward with a wish that only you can fulfill." Dumbledore paused and looked Hitsugaya straight in the eye. "They wish to move on." Hitsugaya looked down. He wasn't sure if normal soul burial would work on them, since the ghosts that wondered around the castle seemed different from those Hitsugaya was used to.

"I… I must be honest with you. I'm not sure I can bury them. The ghosts here bear few similarities to those I have dealt with in the past. They seem more… corporeal and lack a chain." Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Lack a chain?"

"Yes, every plus soul has a chain coming from their chest, it is like a life line. Have you ever heard of out of body experiences?" Hitsugaya asked, deciding to try and explain it so that a mortal could understand it. Dumbledore nodded.

"If I recall, it means a state where a person feels like they are floating outside their own body."

"That is correct. And it actually happens; most usually such a thing occurs when one is near death, when the soul starts to drift away from the body. None of the people who have lived to tell about their out of body experiences remember the chain that connects their body and the soul, I'm not even sure they can see it, but to us _shinigami_ the chain is visible. When the chain breaks, the soul can no longer enter the body." Hitsugaya felt like he had only confused the old man, but Dumbledore nodded, looking thoughtful. "I'm afraid I cannot explain it more clearly."

"Oh no, I'm quite sure I understood your explanation. What I don't understand is why it is a problem that the ghosts here don't have the chain."

"The chain gets shorter as time goes by. If the soul is not buried before the chain disappears, the soul turns to hollow, a soul tainted by darkness. The only way to save those souls is to cut them. Your ghosts, however, look nothing like hollows. I am unsure how to bury them if it even is possible. I can write to our researches about this but as they can't come here, it is possible that even they can't come up with an answer. It would help if you will tell me all you know about becoming ghosts like the one in Hogwarts are." Hitsugaya sighed. He felt like he knew nothing and he hated feeling helpless. It seemed that even though Soul Society knew about the magical world, they had neglected some of its dead.

"Of course. All of the ghosts in Hogwarts were wizards and witches when they were alive. They, I believe, are not really souls as much as imprints that have come to be as a result of some great emotion upon their deaths." Hitsugaya narrowed his eyes. So it was magic rather than a natural occurrence? This was valuable information that could make all the difference in solving the soul burial problem. "I fear that I can't tell you anything more since I have never really looked into this subject myself." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"It's fine. I think those were the most important things anyway." Dumbledore nodded. "There are still a few things I need to ask you, Dumbledore-san." Hitsugaya looked at the clock that was ticking on the wall. They had already been talking for an hour and Hitsugaya was feeling a little tired himself. "The paintings and such… they do not have souls, do they?" Dumbledore laughed.

"Oh no! Their movements are produced simply by magic." Hitsugaya frowned. He couldn't really believe that.

"They seem really… aware of the world around them." Dumbledore smiled.

"Yes, they are quite lively." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at Dumbledore's choice of words. "But still they are mere paintings that have a restricted consciousness created by us wizards. The paint used by wizard painters brings life to the paintings, using the painter's thoughts and wishes." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Alright then. I trust you in this matter. But I will warn you, tampering with a soul is considered great crime in Soul Society and we make sure to punish those who have broken this law." Dumbledore nodded his expression serious.

"I understand. Such deeds are deemed forbidden in our law as well, so you shouldn't worry." Dumbledore gave Hitsugaya a reassuring smile. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes, in fact. I need to send my report to Japan, yet I possess no knowledge of your mail system." Dumbledore nodded and relaxed now that the topic had changed to one that was less serious.

"The Owlery is located on the top of west tower. You can borrow the school's owls. For such long distance deliveries you'll want to choose one that is fairly big and strong. Just call out one, they are surprisingly smart for animals."

"Alright. I have one more question for you. Is there a place where I could train and release my _reiatsu_ without the fear of being seen?" Dumbledore raised an eyebrow.

"_Reiatsu_?"

"Spiritual pressure. The force that allows a _shinigami_ to do many things, such as using our magic, kidou." Hitsugaya could see the old man's curiosity rise at the mention of kidou, but it seemed that Dumbledore decided to leave questioning Hitsugaya about it for their next meeting as he sighed and thought for a moment.

"I suppose that the Forbidden Forest is the best option, since the only one that goes there is Hagrid and he is out of country for now." Hitsugaya nodded. He knew of the forest, Dumbledore had told about it in his school year opening speech. "Is this _reiatsu_ something one can see then?"

"No. But I fear that releasing my _reiatsu_ would cause in many, if not all, students losing their consciousness. The difference between us is so great. But I can't simply repress my _reiatsu_ all year long without consequences." Hitsugaya explained. His eyelids felt rather heavy already and he really wanted this meeting to be done and over with.

"I see. I'll look into this and inform you if I find a place that is better suited for your needs. But for now is it okay if you use the forest?"

"Yes. It will suffice."

"Well I think this is enough for tonight. I think we both could use the sleep." Dumbledore said and stood up. Hitsugaya nodded, standing up himself. "I'll send you a letter about our next meeting in two weeks. But for now I bade you a good night Hitsugaya-san and thank you for your cooperation." Dumbledore bowed and Hitsugaya bowed back.

"Thank you and good night." Hitsugaya turned and left the office, silently making his way to the Gryffindor tower. His head was buzzing with all the new information as he climbed through the portrait hole and picked up his transfiguration book from the table where he had left it. Making sure to not make a noise, he made his way to the boys' dormitory and the room where he would live for the next year.

The other four boys were in a deep sleep, Euan was snoring loudly and Connor looked like he would soon fall off the bed. Hitsugaya stretched and changed his clothes, closing the curtains of his bed. He took Hyorinmaru from its safe keep and curled next to it, falling asleep.

Chapter 5 finally here! Yay!  
This chapter took me forever to write for some reason. I kept writing and then erasing everything after wards and I was almost sure that I wouldn't be able to finish this in time! But I did, and I'm quite happy with this chapter. Hope you were too!

I got a lot of positive reviews from the last chapter, thank you very much everyone! You've kept me writing and made me do a bit research as well I've also enjoyed reading your guesses on what's going to happen and your rants that you've written and all that! Many of your reviews have made me add something extra to my chapter plans. (Darn you people, making me want to work harder when I'm lazy by nature! :D)

As KnowledgeandImagination pointed out to me, Rin is actually a male! I will be correcting the fourth chapter and turn Rin the male he is! :D Damn Viz translations, leading me to believe Rin was a female! I must have watched too much Inuyasha, not even suspecting that a character called Rin could be a boy…! Anyways, thank you KnowledgeandImagination for correcting me.

Other reviewer with good points was Tashio. Although I do disagree with somethings, like Hitsugaya being surprised about magic. Kidou in my mind is a combat form only the shinigami can use. Humans do not possess the same powers as shinigami, so of course Hitsugaya would be surprised to find out about humans able to do magic, especially since it is nothing like kidou… Ah… This is so hard to explain, but I hope my vision over this is a bit clearer now.

Another thing Tashio told me about was Kan, that is the currency of Soul Society. I had no idea that they had their own currency there! Yet I won't change the part where Hitsugaya changes money in the bank. Why? Because Kan is indeed Soul Society's currency. The poor Goblin would be as oblivious of it as I was and would accuse Hitsugaya of forging money, which, now that I think about it, would be hilarious! :D

The link you gave me taught me a lot and it will be of use in the future as well! Thank you for educating me Tashio!

So, that was it for chapter 5 notes! Leave a review and tell me what you thought!  
'Till next chapter!

-Pureya


	6. Chapter 6

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
Taichou means captain  
Soutaichou means captain-commander  
Shinigami means death reaper  
Seireitei is where the shinigami reside  
Soul Society consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
Reiatsu means spiritual pressure  
Reiryoku means spiritual energy  
You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 6**

"I forgot my wand."

"…What?" Titus asked his voice filled with disbelief. "What kind of a wizard are you?" Hitsugaya shook his head.

"I'll go and get it. You go ahead."

"Okay… hurry up then! Defense against the dark Arts sounds real cool, you don't want to be late!" Euan said and Hitsugaya nodded. He had been waiting for those classes as well, hoping it would introduce him to new ways of defeating Aizen.

"I won't be!" Hitsugaya turned and ran back towards the Gryffindor tower. The whole morning had been a total catastrophe. Hitsugaya slept in and had missed breakfast and he had finally been woken up by Connor, who had pulled the curtains aside. Hitsugaya had nearly had a heart attack when he realized that Hyorinmaru was out of the realm bag and thus had woken up with a jolt. It was a miracle that Hyorinmaru had been out of sight, under the blanket. Luckily the boys had thought that he was just shy as he quickly closed the curtains with the excuse of changing clothes when in reality he had just hidden Hyorinmaru. Connor had been tormenting Hitsugaya about his "shyness" all morning after that.

When Hitsugaya arrived to the room he saw his wand on the night stand next to his bed. He had purposely left it there the previous night, just so he'd remember to take this morning. Hitsugaya angrily snatched the wand and bolted from the dormitory, heading straight towards the class room. Or he at least hoped he was, being only the second school day of actual classes, he still was a bit lost every time he tried to find a new place.

A sudden scream made Hitsugaya halt. He looked around, wasn't there some else who could look into it? But everyone else was probably already in class rooms, so Hitsugaya turned a corner, cursing as he tried to find whoever it was that was in trouble. He didn't have to search for a long time before a girl came running towards him, crying her eyes out and covered in goo. Hitsugaya grabbed her shoulders as she ran past him. The scared girl tried to hit him and as a result, fell on the floor.

"You okay?" Hitsugaya recognized the girl. It was the cry-baby. Hitsugaya looked around him, half expecting to see her friend as the two seemed to go everywhere together. The girl looked up at him, sniffling and shaking her head. A loud cackle could be heard, echoing through the empty corridors and coming closer. The girl's eyes grew larger.

"Oh no! He's coming again!" Hitsugaya didn't have time to ask who before he had to sidestep to avoid being hit by a water balloon that was filled with ink. The girl covered her head and didn't budge.

"Ickle firsties! Look look! She's crying!" It was Peeves the poltergeist. Hitsugaya fought the urge to use kidou against the nuisance. Instead of blowing his cover he glared at the poltergeist that merely laughed at him and threw another balloon, hitting the girl in the back.

"Stop that! Leave me alone! Please…!" The girl cried.

"Oh I'll leave you alone…when I'm out of ammo!" Peeves threw two more balloons towards them. Hitsugaya had enough. He was late from the class. He hated being late, it was rude and hinted of poor planning skills. He caught the balloons in the air, making sure to not let them explode in his hands and threw them towards the poltergeist. Of course the balloons just flew through Peeves, but the act still caught him by surprise.

"Get the hell out of here." Hitsugaya's rude comment had Peeves seething and the poltergeist took aim once more. Hitsugaya's patience was wearing thin. 'Might as well try it…' Taking a second to concentrate, Hitsugaya released a little of his reiatsu at once. The force was enough to make Peeves stop and look at him with slight horror. Behind him, Hitsugaya heard a soft 'thump' and he looked over his shoulder. The girl had fainted. Damn.

"Freak!" Peeves yelled before dropping all of his leftover ammo and flew through the ceiling. Hitsugaya sighed. He hated that word. Deciding to let it go for now, he turned to the girl and crouched next to her.

"Oi, wake up." She girl didn't even stir. Hitsugaya grabbed her shoulders and moved her to a sitting position. He was quite unsure what he should do, since he didn't want to slap her or anything (real men didn't hit defenseless girls no matter what the situation). So he shook her. "Wake up!" It seemed to work as the girl's eyes fluttered open.

"What…?"

"You passed out. We're late from Defense against the Dark Arts so get up." The girl stared at him dazedly before she nodded and grabbed Hitsugaya's arm, using it to balance herself. When the girl was standing up, she let go of Hitsugaya and immediately fell back to the floor.

"I… I don't think I'm really up to walking yet…" Hitsugaya sighed.

"I'll support you, come on." Well, it was his fault that the girl had fainted in the first place; he should at least act like a gentleman to ease the guilt that would surely follow afterwards. The girl nodded and Hitsugaya pulled her to her feet, letting her lean on him as they slowly walked towards the Defense Against the Dark Arts class room. The girl kept tripping, making it hard to walk.

"…Thank you, Toushiro." Hitsugaya looked at the girl. She knew his name?

"Don't mention it… How'd you know my name?" The girl smiled.

"Well I've heard your friends call you that and your name's a bit particular so it stuck in my mind." She gave him a shaky smile.

"Oh." Well that was a first. Finally they arrived and Hitsugaya knocked on the door.

"Come in" Hitsugaya opened the door and found the whole class looking at them. The girl was blushing. Their teacher looked at them with her eyebrows raised. They had to look rather horrible, Hitsugaya realized. The girl was covered in ink and some greenish goo and had gotten some on Hitsugaya as well by clinging to his arm with surprising amount of force.

"… I apologize for being late. Peeves attacked us…" That sounded so lame that Hitsugaya really had to fight turning red in embarrassment. The girl gave a weak nod.

"Oh my, are you alright?" The professor asked, her girlish voice filled with fake concern. Hitsugaya looked at the woman with disbelief. Did it look like they were okay? Well he was but the girl's lower lip had just started trembling. She nodded and the professor smiled. It was probably meant as a reassuring smile but to Hitsugaya it seemed like a smile that belittled them. "Well that's good. Now take your seats." The girl let go of Hitsugaya, taking bravely a step forward before she fell to the floor. A blond girl in the back stood up. Hitsugaya recognized her as the cry-baby's friend. "Oh my, what's wrong dear?" The professor stood up as well.

"I'm still feeling a bit woozy…" the professor looked at Hitsugaya, her expression clearly demanding an explanation. Hitsugaya let his shoulders sag.

"She fainted."

"Is that right dear?" The girl nodded, now sniffling and wiping her eyes."Well then, young man, please take her to the infirmary, as you should have done in the first place." Hitsugaya nodded, feeling angry. He would entirely miss this period now. Great. All this just because he had forgotten his stupid wand. He once again helped the girl up from the floor. "Do you know where the infirmary is?" It was a good point. Hitsugaya didn't have a clue as to where the infirmary was located.

"I know where it is." The girl said. The professor nodded.

"Good. Now off you go, so the rest of the class can continue with their reading." They left the class room and went back the way they came. They walked slowly and were mostly silent. Hitsugaya felt disappointed that he had missed a class, and on his second day nonetheless! It took them long time to reach the infirmary, but they finally did. Hitsugaya feared that the blood circulation in his arm would never quite recover from the girl's near desperate clutch.

"Excuse me?" A matron turned to look at them when Hitsugaya called out. She took one good look at them before she hurried to them, her expression full of concern.

"What happened?" Before Hitsugaya could say anything she was already taking their temperatures and turning their heads to see their eyes.

"Peeves attacked her and she lost consciousness for a while." The matron looked at Hitsugaya and then at the girl.

"Is that so? I've asked Dumbledore many times to banish that Peeves! Every year I get students with serious head injuries caused by him! Now now dear, let's get you cleaned first. You too, young man." The matron supported the girl from the other side and together they hoisted her onto a bed. The matron took out her wand and with swish their clothes were clean again. Hitsugaya stood next to the girl's bed, looking at the clock. He still had fifteen minutes before the end of the first period. "No use looking at the clock now boy! Sit down." Hitsugaya glared at the woman. He was fine, he didn't need to be here and just as he opened his mouth tell the woman this, she pointed at the bed. "Now!" The tone of voice left no room for discussion. Hitsugaya sighed and sat down on the next bed. He didn't have the energy to argue anyway.

"Here dear, this helps you to calm your nerves." The matron gave the girl a cup filled with liquid that smelled slightly of roses. The girl accepted the cup with a small nod. The matron turned to Hitsugaya. "You seem to be alright, but I'm going to take a look at your head just in case."

"I didn't get hit. I'm fine." The woman's expression darkened. "…But if you insist then go ahead." Her expression had come too near to the one Unohana always had when her patience was wearing thin and if this woman's wrath was anything like Unohana's, then he'd rather have the head examination. The matron nodded, satisfied. She whispered something to the girl that had now started nodding off and turned to Hitsugaya.

"So, how are you feeling?" She asked as she felt his head, trying to find bumps.

"I'm fine. I just found her and brought her here." The matron nodded and checked his eyes.

"Yes, it seems that you are telling the truth." She stepped away from him and smiled. "Forgive me, but you'd be surprised how often students lie about their injuries, especially boys." Hitsugaya nodded, he understood. He tended to lie about his injuries as well and this had resulted in Unohana telling her division to make sure he'd get checked after every mission. Hitsugaya wondered what kind of a treatment waited for him when he went back to Soul Society. If he needed to stay here all year, Unohana would probably run every test on him that she knew. The mare idea made Hitsugaya's insides turn. He hated being poked and prodded by doctors and scientists (especially by the latter… and even more so if the scientist happened to be Kurotsuchi).

"So, am I free to go?" The matron smiled and told him to wait. She walked to a desk, taking out paper and quill and wrote a note. She folded it neatly and gave it to him.

"Now you can go. Give this to your next teacher; it explains Ms. Miller's absence for the rest of the day." Hitsugaya nodded and bowed before he left the room. The first period would end in two minutes so Hitsugaya decided to head straight towards the next classroom. At least he now had everything in his bag, so he wouldn't have to run back to the Gryffindor tower. Hitsugaya headed down the corridor that led to the Dungeons. He passed a ghost on his way and nodded as a greeting. The ghost politely nodded back and continued on its way, not showing any indication about knowing of Hitsugaya's true identity. That was at least good news. When Dumbledore had told him about the ghosts knowing about him being a shinigami, Hitsugaya had been worried that the ghosts would come up to him and start talking about the soul burial. But it seemed that the ghosts would keep his secret just like Dumbledore said they would.

When Hitsugaya reached the classroom, the door was locked so he put his bag down and leaned against the wall, waiting for the class to start. He didn't have to wait long until the rest of the Gryffindor first-years appeared from behind the corner and after them were trailing some Slytherin first-years. Gryffindor and Slytherin shared the potion classes and Hitsugaya remembered the other boys bad mouthing them last night when they had been playing cards. He really wasn't up to this. Euan, Connor, Titus, Andrew and Owen walked to him when they saw him.

"You okay?" Owen asked. Hitsugaya nodded. Connor asked what happened and Hitsugaya reluctantly told them, changing his story a little. There was no way he'd tell them the real reason why Peeves ran off, so he just told them he was out of ammo and got bored.

"Here, it's a note for you from Professor Umbridge." Euan gave him a neatly folded note. Hitsugaya opened the note and read it. The message made him want to break something. "What? What does it say?"

"She's giving me detention."

"WHAT!"

"For being late and then missing my class and for being so stupid as to bring the girl to the classroom instead of taking her straight to the infirmary."

"Well, that _was_ pretty stupid of you." Connor said. Hitsugaya glared the boy, he did not need the other's cheeky attitude right now.

"Hey, you!" Hitsugaya looked up, and saw the cry-baby's blond friend walking towards him. "Is Ella ok? I'd go and check on her myself but I can't until lunch!"

"She's ok, the matron is taking care of her." Hitsugaya said and the girl's expression changed to one of relief.

"That's great. Thanks for helping her, she's so unlucky that it's unbelievable." She flashed him a smile and Hitsugaya just nodded, accepting her thanks. "But you know what! That hag of a teacher gave her detention!"

"She gave Hitsugaya detention too." Titus said.

"Really?" Hitsugaya nodded at the girl's questioning look. She snorted.

"She seemed like a nice teacher first but now I'm not that sure." Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. He hadn't liked the woman. She seemed really deceptive. But he shouldn't judge by first impression so decided not to join in the current subject. He put the detention note into his pocket and turned to Euan.

"What did you do in the DADA class?"

"Oh it was boring! We just read the first chapter and took notes. You wouldn't have even needed the wand! I think you had more fun missing the class. Oh and you can copy my notes if you help me with the History essay…" Hitsugaya nodded, he didn't mind helping the boy, and after all, Euan was a valuable part of his current information bank, even if the boy knew only rumors. But rumors should never be underestimated, since some of them could be scarily accurate and this was something Hitsugaya had learned firsthand in the academy.

"Move it!" They turned see a teacher coming through the mass of first-years. The greasy looking man waved his wand and the door opened. They all filed into the room, taking their seats. The Professor looked angry and disgusted as he looked over the class. It seemed that the rumors about him hating Gryffindors at least were accurate. Hitsugaya bravely stood up and walked to the Professor, who glared at him as he approached the teacher's table.

"I was asked to give you this, Professor." Hitsugaya gave the note the Matron had given him and returned to his own seat. The greasy Professor opened the note and as he began to smirk, Hitsugaya immediately knew that there was something wrong.

"As nice as it is to know that you have landed yourself in detention, Mr. Hitsugaya, I fail to see why this is relevant to my class. Five points from Gryffindor for wasting my time." All the Slytherins sniggered mockingly and some of the Gryffindors looked annoyed at Hitsugaya for losing points. Hitsugaya fought the rising anger and just glared at the Professor, taking out the needed note from his pocket and walking once again to the Professor. The man took the note from Hitsugaya and gave the first one back, smirking. The Professor read the note and Hitsugaya returned to his seat.

"Don't let him get to you." Titus said and Owen nodded. Hitsugaya said nothing. He felt frustrated because this place and this day was getting to him, and he was angry at himself for allowing that.

"The second day and already a Gryffindor missing my class, can't say I'm surprised." A Slytherin girl giggled loudly. The professor walked in front of the class slowly and started his speech. "Now, we will continue to a field more important that the Gryffindors' private problems. I am Professor Snape. Potions is an underestimated field of magic and not many can understand its greatness and the possibilities the knowledge over this field offers. It should be known that I tolerate no fools in my class and expect nothing less than excellence. I am aware that there will be many disappointments…" The Professor looked at Hitsugaya, who in turn glared at the smirking Professor, annoyed that he had already been branded as a failure. "…but still I won't show mercy to any of you who look down on this subject." Snape glared at the whole class and walked to his desk. He pointed at the blackboard, and words wrote themselves on it. "Take out your books and start working. The instructions are on the board. I will walk among you and give you feedback on your work." Hitsugaya took out his book and then read the instructions on the board. They were fairly easy, except for the fact that he didn't recognize some of the ingredients, but that's why he had the book. They started silently working on their potions and it didn't take long before the classroom was full of smoke that varied in color. Hitsugaya hoped that the fumes in the room were not poisonous, but judging from Snape's calm way of concentrating on insulting Euan's cauldron's contents (that was bright green, not the creamy white color it should be) he had nothing to worry about. He threw some lizard eyeballs into his own cauldron and stirred once like the book advised. The liquid inside turned to creamy white and Hitsugaya let out a sigh of relief.

"How did you manage that?" Titus muttered. Hitsugaya looked at the boy's potion. It was a bit yellowish but not a hopeless case like Euan's.

"I followed the instructions. Did you stir it?"

"No. Should I? It's not written on the board."

"Yes, you should. The book is has better instructions than ones on the board." Hitsugaya turned his attention back to his own work and read the next passage; 'let the potion simmer on low heat for 30 minutes'. Shrugging, Hitsugaya started cleaning his desk, keeping an eye on the fire. Professor Snape walked past him, looked into the cauldron, then at Hitsugaya and once again looked at the potion. Probably coming into the conclusion that Hitsugaya actually had made it himself, the man continued past him, not saying a word. He didn't say a word to Titus either, who had stirred the potion and it had turned to the wanted color. Owen however, had forgotten to add an ingredient and was humiliated in front of the class. The boy looked ready to cry when Snape finally moved on. Hitsugaya frowned, such leadership did more damage than was of help, didn't Snape realize this?

At the end of the period they bottled a little of their potions and gave them to Snape, who in turn gave them an unfair amount of homework. All the students complained as they left the classroom, Gryffindors being the loudest (and losing another 10 point for it). After they were out of earshot, Euan started complaining loudly about Snape. "Who the heck does he think he is? You can't treat students like that! Isn't there a law about that?"

"I don't think there is." Andrew said. He had also gotten his share of Snape's snappy remarks, but had been surprisingly calm after it. All of them had expected the shy boy to burst into tears. Hitsugaya looked behind them; Owen had slowed down enough to not to be really taken notice of. Hitsugaya slowed down as well, nudging Titus who did the same.

"Are you okay?" Titus asked from Owen, who nodded, but didn't look up. "No you're not. You really shouldn't think about it, Snape pretty much called all of us idiots and good for nothings and the sort!" Hitsugaya nodded.

"…I know… I'm just angry at myself. For forgetting the ingredient." Titus shook his head.

"You didn't do that on purpose, so don't beat yourself up over it." Hitsugaya said.

"Well said, that professor has some issues!" The three boys looked behind them to find the same blond girl who they had talked to before the class walking right behind them. "…But I heard from some second year students that he's always like that." Titus nodded.

"We heard the same thing. So really Owen you shouldn't think anything about the things that git said, he hated us all the minute we were sorted to Gryffindor."

"Are you coming?" They looked ahead to see Connor, Euan and Andrew waiting for them, looking mildly annoyed.

"The girl's coming too?" Connor asked. The said girl glared at him.

"It's Jenny, not 'girl'! My mom says such way of calling is demeaning!" None of the boys wanted to answer that so they just continued to lunch. Jenny spent her day following them and sitting next to Hitsugaya during the last three periods that were Charms and an hour of Transfiguration. After the classes were over, Hitsugaya quickly copied Euan's notes from DADA class (this took surprisingly much time, as the boy's handwriting was horrible) and then decided to write his report to Soul Society.

After an hour, Hitsugaya found himself still staring at a blank paper. He had no idea _how_ to write what he needed to say. It was crucial that the letter seemed like any of the other students' letters. So Hitsugaya had decided to write a letter to his "family". The problem was that he really couldn't come up with anything that didn't make his insides turn with embarrassment.

_Dear Yamamoto_

Hitsugaya stared at the line and felt repulsed. He couldn't call Yamamoto-soutaichou 'dear'! It was outrageous and utterly mortifying! So he crumbled the paper and took another, dipping his quill into the ink bottle.

_Hello!_

That would have to do as a greeting. Anything more cheery and Hitsugaya would cry, anything more formal and it wouldn't sound like an eleven-year-old writing. Although he really doubted whether many wizards knew Japanese, it wouldn't surprise him if they had some handy spell for translating as well.

_How are you? I'm doing fine! I was sorted to Gryffindor house. Harry Potter, a famous boy in the wizarding world is in the same house! I have yet to actually see him, though._

_I've made some new acquaintances here in the school. They know a lot more about magic than me, as they are from wizarding families! I am learning lots from them. They aren't that much better than me when it comes to actually casting spells even though they live in wizarding families. Casting spells is actually quite hard; it is nothing like the "magic" we have at home._

_There are so many interesting things in the castle where we live! There are portraits that move and speak, but I was told that they had no souls and they are "living" thanks to magic. There are also many ghosts in the castle. They have no chains coming from their chests like the ghosts in the stories have; I wonder how they can move on? I was told that they are imprints left on this world, so where are their souls? Maybe Kurotsuchi would know, please ask him this for me._

_The teachers here are way different from the ones back at home. Some of them seem real nice and capable, while some seem absolutely horrible. One of them gave me detention this morning for being late for class (I had been helping a girl in my class who was being bullied by the school's poltergeist) and the other just hates us for being Gryffindors. The headmaster seems to be a good man though. I've heard many good things about him, and some bad things as well, but I get the impression that he is a trustworthy man._

_I'll send another letter in a week or so, depending on what happens. _

_Yours sincerely_

_Hitsugaya Toushiro_

Hitsugaya read his letter through… It was crude but it'd have to do. His pride could not deal with more damage that day. So he put the letter inside an envelope and wrote Kurosaki Ichigo on it, and drew a katana under the name, hoping that the boy would get its meaning and not open then seal.

Hitsugaya took another paper and started writing again.

_To__ Hinamori and Matsumoto_

_First of all; Hinamori, I'm fine. Nothing tragic has happened so you can stop your worrying as I am sure you've driven some people mad by it. I'm going to keep my letter short as some of my roommates are growing rather annoying as they are trying to read over my shoulder…_

It was true; Euan and Connor were looming behind his back, occasionally pointing at a character and asking what it meant. Hitsugaya ignored them the best he could, but the constant poking and talking was really distracting.

_To satisfy your curiosity, the wizards and__ witches are quite normal, not anything like Kurotsuchi as you suspected, Matsumoto (with a couple of exceptions). And I've made some "friends" as you would call them, so neither one of you have to worry about me being alone as they are quite as persistent as the two of you. _

_I'll write again._

_Hitsugaya Toushiro_

_P.S. Matsumoto, do your work and don't bother Ukitake too much. Hinamori, make sure she's doing her work (and don't help her with it!)._

Hitsugaya read the letter once again and put it in another envelope, writing Kurosaki's name on it, adding the sword and then drew a small lily on it, the mark of tenth division.

"Who were you writing to?" Euan asked and pulled a chair next to Hitsugaya. The common room was quite quiet at the moment, as most of the students were doing their homework. Euan and Connor had none of that, and Hitsugaya had a hunch that he'd have to stay up late and help Euan with the History essay like he had promised. That meant that he still couldn't go to the forest. Well… it would probably be best if he went there during the weekend as to not to let it affect his performance in school.

"To my… friends… back home." Friends would do, even if the two women were more like sisters to him.

"Aren't you being a bit of a wuss writing home on our second day of school?" Connor said, smirking.

"I left Japan alone almost a week ago; they are bound to be worried. So no, I don't think I'm being a wuss, Connor." Hitsugaya glared at the boy. He took another piece of paper.

"You are still writing?"

"Yes."

"Oh come on… leave that for later and let's go out! Owen promised to teach us football, a muggle game!"

"I know what football is."

"Still…! If you don't come we don't have even teams!"

"Fine… I'll go, but I'll write this first…"

"Toshiro…!" Hitsugaya glared at Euan. The boy was really getting on his nerves today.

"Calm down Euan. He can come later since he knows how football is played." Hitsugaya looked behind him to find Owen, Andrew and Titus standing there, Owen holding a ball in his hands.

"Okay then… See you soon, Toushiro!" The five other boys left the common room and Hitsugaya turned back to writing.

_To Kurosaki_

_I'm going to assume that Abarai didn't remember to inform you about this, but you are supposed to give the other letters to Yamamoto. I only have your address so I was left with no choice in the matter. You can ask Abarai and Kuchiki for more information._

_Keep one of the owls there so I can get a response. Remember to feed him!_

_Thanks for co-operating._

_Hitsugaya Toushiro._

_P.S. DO NOT read the other two letters, as the contents of those letters is none of your business._

Taking a third envelope he put the letter in and once again wrote Kurosaki's name and address on it. Hitsugaya put away his things and left the common room, heading towards the Owlery, the three envelopes in his hand. He asked a couple of portraits for directions so it didn't take him long before he found himself opening the Owlery door. The floor was full of owl droppings and mouse carcasses. Hitsugaya looked up to see dozens of owl of different colors and sizes. Most of them were colored brown but a single white owl was perched near the ceiling. It was beautiful and Hitsugaya wondered if it was the school's or if it belonged to one of the students.

"Uh… Hello?" He felt like an idiot talking to birds but he had absolutely no idea what else to do. It was a good thing that he was the only one up here… "I have three letters which I'd like to send to Japan… anyone up to it?" At first it seemed that none of the owls understood him and Hitsugaya was ready to go back down and ask Titus or Euan about sending the letters but then three barn owls flew down and sat on a windowsill, stretching their clawed feet forward. Hitsugaya gave each of the owls one envelope. "Uhh… those are actually all going to the same address. To Karakura and to a blond idiot that lives there. And I'd appreciate if one of you could wait there for a response. The idiot will feed you." The owls hooted and took off. Hitsugaya looked after them for a while and left the Owlery, making his way to outside the castle.

"Toushiro!" Hitsugaya looked and saw Euan waving at him. He walked to the other boys, who were sitting near the lake, taking a break it seemed. "What took you so long?"

"I went to the Owlery."

"Oh. Anyways, guess who just threw a tantrum?" Hitsugaya automatically looked at Connor.

"Why are you looking at me for!" He asked and Hitsugaya smirked. Titus laughed.

"I knew you were going to think of Connor first!" Connor threw a dirty look at the boy.

"Well it wasn't Connor, but Harry Potter!" Hitsugaya's eyes snapped back to Euan.

"Harry Potter?"

"Yeah! See, he's sitting there with the prefects." Euan pointed to where Hermione and Ron were sitting with their black haired friend. The trio were seemingly doing their homework, with sour expressions.

"That's Harry Potter?" Hitsugaya didn't understand, Dumbledore had said that he'd know Potter immediately when he came to the school, but the boy looked really normal, not at all like someone who'd stand out from the crowd. Heck, now that Hitsugaya thought about it, he had passed the boy in the corridors many times and seen him in the common room as well.

"Yes. Anyways, he just suddenly started shouting something about his summer and Snuffles and Snape to the other two. Crazy, huh?" Euan said. Hitsugaya nodded. His mind was racing. Now that he finally knew who Harry Potter was, he'd have to come up with a plan on how to keep an eye on him. He couldn't just try to become friends with him since he was a fifth year student.

"How about we continue playing now that Toushiro's here as well? Me, Connor and Andrew against Euan, Toushiro and Titus. Sound fair?"

"Sound good! Come on Toushiro, we're gonna win them!" Euan nudged the white haired boy from his thoughts.

"Huh…uh, ok." Hitsugaya looked at the Potter boy once more. Now the mission could finally truly start!

"Let the game begin!"

A bit shorter chapter this time around! I lost my notes, so I'm not sure what all I forgot to put in this chapter… well, I'll have to put it on the next one when I find the notes!

I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite its shortness. Now that Hitsugaya knows who Harry is, I can finally really start the fic! Please stay tuned for more!

So, once again you have been active and left me lots of comments, thank you very much! Couldn't do this without your support! I'm especially happy that you think that I've managed to keep Hitsugaya in character. That is probably the best review a fanfic writer can receive! Thousands of thanks! ^_^

KnowledgeandImagination:  
Once again you point me my mistakes! Thanks, I'll do the corrections right away! Keep up the good work! :D

Sesshomaru092:  
I see your point, as it was my point as well. Maybe I didn't explain myself clearly enough, but yes you are right; none of the humans alive would recognize kan. And that is exactly why I had Hitsugaya exchange Yen and Ryo.

Gerti:  
Ahahahaa… you think so? I was afraid this was going to happen, as I am the youngest of my family and all my cousins are over 15 as well so I don't really have a 11-year-old subject whose speech I could examine. Oh well, I'll try to leave more sophisticated words for Hitsugaya in the future!

EspeonSilverfire2:  
Oh that's right! But then again, Hitsugaya wouldn't know that as I don't really see him conversing about such things with Orihime. But you have a good point… hmm. Makes me think…!

LittleBoxOfHorrors:  
A good point with the Ryo. It never even occurred to me that people wouldn't know what Ryo is! I'll add it to the notes! Thanks for leaving such a great review! ^_^ 

That's all for now I think. Please let me know what you think!

-Pureya


	7. Chapter 7

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
**Taichou** means captain  
**Soutaichou** means captain-commander  
**Shinigami **means death reaper  
**Seireitei** is where the shinigami reside  
**Soul Society** consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
**Reiatsu** means spiritual pressure  
**Reiryoku** means spiritual energy  
**Shihakushō** is the whole attire that the Shinigami wear (Garment of dead souls)  
**Kata** = Forms, it's kind of shadow boxing. Using Kata you can train using your full strength without the fear of injuring your opponent, because the opponent is imaginary  
**Suburi** = Cutting exercises  
**Battoho** = Drawing techniques

You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 7**

The next morning Hitsugaya woke up early, dressed quickly, grabbed the nearest book and headed to the common room. The previous night he had decided to shadow Potter in order to find out the best way to approach him and today he'd be following the boy whenever he had the chance. Of course this also meant that he'd have to come up with excuses to run around the school so that his roommates didn't get suspicious of him. That would be probably the hardest thing as it seemed that he had made quite an impression on them with his soccer skills. Owen had been following him the rest of the day, begging Hitsugaya to teach him. Hitsugaya had of course refused the honor… he had enough to deal with as it was.

Hitsugaya sat in the common room, a book open on his lap, hoping that he didn't look like he was waiting for someone. After an hour or so, people started emerging from the dormitories, looking tired and grumpy. Most people headed straight to breakfast but one person stayed to wait for her friends. Hermione Granger sat on the same sofa as Hitsugaya was sitting on. She noticed him looking and smiled.

"Good morning!" Hitsugaya nodded.

"Morning."

"Studying this early?" Hitsugaya looked at his book. It was the potions book.

"…Thought I'd do some extra work in this field of magic…" The girl smiled knowingly.

"Snape is an interesting teacher, isn't he?"

"That's one way to put it, yes. I did have one other term in mind though."

"I'm sure everyone has." Hitsugaya nodded once again. "I hope he hasn't been too horrible to you first years." Hitsugaya shrugged.

"I don't think we've seen worst of him yet." Hermione laughed.

"Oh, here they come." She stood up and bid her goodbyes to him as she joined two boys who just emerged from the boy's dormitories. Hitsugaya looked as Ron Weasley and Harry Potter greeted their friend and headed towards the portrait hole, most likely intending to go to the great hall for breakfast. Hitsugaya waited for a while before he shut his book and followed the trio.

The Great hall was quite empty, as it seemed that many students preferred waking up late. Hitsugaya sat down so that he could see Potter and co. yet couldn't hear them. The trio was talking animatedly about something they had read from the day's paper. Hitsugaya sighed; he really wanted to just go to the boy, take him outside, tie him to a tree and use him as a bait to lure Voldemort out of his hiding place. Alas, he could not. As a shinigami, he was to protect souls, not to use them as he pleased. Besides, he'd get a hell of a lecture from Yamamoto if the boy happened to die and the amount of paperwork for such accident would have even him weeping.

"Morning." It was Jenny and Ella. Hitsugaya nodded at the two girls who seemed to take it as an invitation to sit down next to him. "Slept well?"

"…Yes."

"Great, me too." Hitsugaya wondered whether the girl realized that he didn't really care. "And Ella as well, even though she slept the whole day yesterday!" Obviously not. "Oh, and about yesterday, Ella's got something to say." Hitsugaya turned to the small girl who blushed when the attention was sifted to her.

"Uh! Mmm…" Hitsugaya sighed, this could take forever. Jenny hit the other girl in the back, whispering for her to get it together. "I mean… Thank you! For yesterday." Hitsugaya averted his eyes. She really shouldn't be thanking him…

"It's ok. Don't worry about it." She nodded shyly and started eating her breakfast. Hitsugaya sighed. Seeing the girl reminded him of his detention that was on Friday evening. Hitsugaya wondered what people did in detention; he had never been in detention as far he remembered. Had he been back in Japan he'd probably ask Kurosaki since he seemed the type to get detention often.

"So, where did you leave the rest of your gang?" Jenny asked. Hitsugaya looked at her and then sifted his eyes back to the fifth-year trio.

"They're not my 'gang'. They are probably still sleeping, they stayed up quite late."

"Oh." Potter and the two prefects rose from their seats and walked past them, all looking rather gloomy. Hitsugaya waited for a while before he too, stood up.

"I'll see you in class." He said to the two girls who looked at him funnily. As he walked away he heard Ella say something that made him feel rather stupid.

"He forgot to eat his breakfast…" It now was clearer than ever why Hitsugaya hadn't made into the Onmitsukidou; he couldn't even act well enough to fool first year students! With a slight blush of embarrassment coloring his usually pale face, Hitsugaya followed the trio back to the Gryffindor common room. Hitsugaya looked at the clock and saw that there was still half an hour before classes started. He saw Potter and Weasley go into the boys' dormitories and followed, deciding to get his school bag and then go back to the common room. As he entered the room he shared with the other boys, he found it empty. They had probably gone to breakfast and just missed each others as Hitsugaya had been going through a different route that the others probably weren't aware of. Now that Hitsugaya thought about it, following Potter had its advantages; as a fifth year student the boy probably knew the castle very well, thus knowing many short cuts that could be useful later on. Letting the thought rise his motivation, Hitsugaya grabbed his schoolbag and went to back to his new hobby: Stalking Potter.

Hitsugaya ended up missing his 'friends' again as Potter and his two sidekicks left early for classes, Hitsugaya following them at a safe distance. Making note what class they went into, he went to his own class. The whole day passed like this; when Hitsugaya's class ended he ran to where he knew Potter's class ended, followed him to the next class, spurted back to his own and so on. When the last class ended, Euan grabbed Hitsugaya's arm before he could run out again. The boy seemed rather annoyed.

"What?"

"What's wrong with you?" Hitsugaya blinked. What should he say?

"Nothing. Why?"

"You've been running from us all day!"

"No I haven't."

"Yeah, you have." 'Oh great thanks Titus, what a time to start caring…!' Hitsugaya rolled his eyes, but as he thought about it, his actions could be misinterpreted as avoiding his roommates.

"…I haven't been avoiding you. I've just got this… project… going on…"

"What project?" Andrew's voice was filled with curiosity. Hitsugaya wondered what kind of a lie they would buy. There was no way he was going to tell them that he was a stalker.

"It's nothing really. I… I'll tell you about it later, I've got to go now."

"No. You are coming with us to dinner now." Euan's grip tightened. Hitsugaya looked at the boy with raised eyebrows. What was his problem? He shifted his eyes to Titus who shrugged and walked past them.

"Let's go." Hitsugaya sighed in defeat.

"Fine." With any luck Potter would be eating dinner as well. Besides, the boy wouldn't leave the castle. However, Hitsugaya needed to know what the boy did after school hours and find a way to get closer to the boy without it being too obvious that he was actually trying.

"Where's Connor? And Owen?" Hitsugaya had just realized that the two boys were missing.

"Well, you'd know if you hadn't ran away right after Potions lessons." Euan said, still obviously mad.

"What happened?"

"They got into a fight with some Slytherins and are now in the infirmary. They both got hit by some hexes, you should have seen Connor's face; it's like he's hit puberty early and has a horrible acne." The thought did amuse Hitsugaya but he just decided to nod instead of laughing at the boy's expanse. "And Owen?"

"One of the Slytherins misspelled a hex and Owen's ears turned green and hairy." Euan's lips quirked. He was obviously finding this funny.

"And the Slytherins?"

"Detention, 50 points taken and one bloody nose. Connor has quite a punch…" Andrew said. Hitsugaya nodded; he knew that. Yesterday when they had played football Connor had noticed that Hitsugaya was distracted (Potter, Granger and Weasley had been taking their leave) and tackled the shinigami with surprising force. Hitsugaya had a small bruise on his arm to show as a proof of it.

"When are they getting out?"

"Probably sometime in the evening, Madam Pomfrey said." They entered the Great hall to find it full of students. It was loud and Hitsugaya felt annoyed to be there at that time. He preferred to wait a while after classes so that it was quieter in the hall. But now that he was here he scanned the room and after a while, found the trio amidst the crowd. They sat down nearly on the other end of the table and started eating. Hitsugaya was quite hungry, having forgotten to eat during breakfast and missing lunch.

"So tell us about your project." Damn Euan… he hadn't had time to really make up a good lie.

"I'm… trying to find… new routes. Shorter ones. And hidden passages." The others looked at him.

"That's it?"

"…Yes?"

"Oh. Have you found any?" They believed him?

"A couple."

"Cool, you can show them to us later, right?" They believed him!

"Sure…" _If I have _the_ time_.

"How do you search for those? Aren't hidden passages usually hard to find?"

"I follow the older students around."

"Oh…" Hitsugaya let out a breath. It seemed that the other boys believed him for now. That was good. It gave him time to make up another good excuse if they noticed that he was following one particular student around.

After dinner they headed to Gryffindor tower and decided to do their homework. Hitsugaya insisted on doing his in the common room and the other boys had decided to tag along. Hitsugaya seemed to be in luck that day as Potter and his friends were also in the common room, doing their homework right next to them. He could actually hear some of their conversation. It seemed that the two boys were hopelessly relying on Granger when it came to History of Magic. Hitsugaya could relate to the frustration that the Granger girl was obviously feeling as she almost writ their essays. Hitsugaya glanced at his own History notes that were being passed from Andrew to Titus; yes, so nice to be of help…

After an hour Hitsugaya noticed Potter standing up. And he paused in writing his Potions essay to listen in the conversation.

"I need to go now…" Potter said. His expression told Hitsugaya that wherever the boy was going, he would prefer anything else.

"Yeah, good luck. Hope it's nothing too horrible." Granger said.

"C'mon Hermione, like detention's not bad enough, it's with Umbridge!" The girl looked at Weasley with a stern look.

"Geez, thanks Ron." Potter said. Weasley smiled apologetically.

"Sorry mate. Good luck!" Potter exited the common room from the portrait hole. Hitsugaya wondered briefly if he should follow but decided against it. It'd be too obvious that he was following Potter if he left now. Besides, Potter was going to detention alone so most likely he'd come back to his friends afterwards. That meant that he just had to stay here for the rest of the evening.

"Toushirou? Hello?" Hitsugaya blinked and looked at Titus who waved his notes in front of his face. Hitsugaya took the notes from the boy and glared. He didn't like it when people caught him unawares.

"What?"

"Just asked you if you'll come with us to watch the Quidditch tryouts on Friday."

"Quidditch? What's that?" Euan's jaw hit the floor and Andrew's eyebrows flew upwards.

"You don't know what Quidditch is!" He shouted. Hitsugaya more felt than saw all the eyes in the room turn to look at them.

"That would be the reason I'm asking you what it is." Titus let out a small laugh.

"That's just unbelievable, everyone knows Quidditch." Euan said. Hitsugaya sighed; the boy never seemed to remember that Hitsugaya was not familiar with the wizarding world.

"Euan, you didn't know about football either." Titus pointed out. Euan glared at the other boy who just shrugged.

"Well anyways, you play Quidditch flying with brooms, trying to get a ball through one of the three hoops." Hitsugaya looked at Euan.

"Brooms. Like cleaning equipment?" Titus laughed again as Euan seemed mad at Hitsugaya for making the comparison.

"NO! Brooms are sports equipment! ... Anyways, both teams have two beaters, three Chasers, one Keeper and one Seeker. There are four balls; Quaffle, two Buldgers and a golden Snitch." Hitsugaya nodded, so far he was following. As Euan continued to explain about the game, Hitsugaya took a more comfortable position; the gleam in the boy's eyes told him that this was going to take a while. After an hour Euan had told Hitsugaya more about Quidditch than he was interested to hear. Currently Andrew and Euan were conversing about some player and teams they were supporting. Titus looked at Hitsugaya.

"So, are you coming on Friday?"

"No."

"No? Why not?" Euan asked, putting his and Andrew's conversation on hold for now.

"Because I have detention."

"Oh, right. That sucks, having detention on Friday." Hitsugaya nodded. He agreed whole heartedly, he had looked forward to getting a few hours of sleep on the evening and going to check out the forbidden forest. The repressing of his reiatsu was already starting to take its toll on his nerves. The normal seal that was usually placed on captain-class shinigami had not been placed on his body for this mission. The special sending required Hitsugaya to have all of his reiatsu in use and Yamamoto had figured that it'd safer for Hitsugaya if the seal wouldn't be placed on him as he was going to a new territory alone.

They finished their homework and started playing cards once again. Connor and Owen joined them around eight o'clock, having been released from madam Pomfrey's care. The two boys looked like their normal selves once again, although Connor had a small scar on his cheek as a proof of his recent "acne". Hitsugaya kept looking at the clock, waiting for Potter to return from his detention. However, even after ten o'clock the boy was still absent and Hitsugaya was beating himself over for not following the boy after all. Who knew where the boy was now! No teacher would keep someone in detention for five hours! It seemed that Granger and Weasley were thinking along the same lines as Hitsugaya; they were both looking at the clock and conversing with worried looks on their faces.

At eleven o'clock Hitsugaya's friends left him alone and went to bed. Hitsugaya bid them good night and took his Transfiguration book and started reading to pass the time. Weasley gave up after half an hour, leaving Granger alone to wait for Potter. Hitsugaya looked around him. They were the only two still up. He turned back to see Hermione smiling at him.

"You should go to sleep too." Hitsugaya noticed her holding something and squinted to see what it was. Was she… knitting? What the heck was that? Liver? Bladder? "It's admirable to see a first year study so hard but sufficient sleep is essential to the learning progress." Hitsugaya nodded. She seemed to be a rather smart girl for someone her age. She was kind too... very Kuchiki Rukia like in Hitsugaya's opinion.

"Thank you for caring, but I think I'll stay up for a bit longer…" _Or as long as it takes the Prophecy-boy to come back_, Hitsugaya thought. Granger nodded.

"Funny thing, I keep seeing you everywhere. Maybe it's the hair. What's your name?" Oh damn, had she noticed him following them already? Curse his attention seeking hair!

"Hitsugaya Toushirou. I mean Toushirou Hitsugaya."

"Nice to meet you Toushirou, I'm Hermione Granger." 'I know' Hitsugaya nodded politely to her. It wouldn't hurt to get to know Potter's friends. After all they were the ones who seemed to know him best. Everyone else had only rumors to offer him; these people were bound to know some things for sure. "So Toushirou, have you had fun here?" Hitsugaya blinked.

"I guess. I do enjoy the classes at least." Well, he didn't hate all the other stuff either… free food, cool castle air… but he'd sure enough like more privacy. Granger smiled and nodded.

"I know what you mean! It was so exciting to learn of the magical world! I couldn't believe my eyes when I got the letter. I thought it was a prank made by the boys who live next door to me. I'm muggle born, you see." Hitsugaya just nodded. "Are you muggle born or from a wizarding family?"

"…From a muggle family." Well, he had been at least in some point of his past. Or so he thought. It had been such a long time since he had been actually alive that the memories had started to blur, and get replaced by new ones.

"So it must have been a shock to you as well. But you at least seem to be adjusting well; every time I see you you are surrounded by friends." Hitsugaya nodded. He really didn't know what to actually say to that; he didn't quite feel like he was adjusting, but it was good to know that he gave the impression and didn't stand out too much. The girl yawned, and rubber her eyes a bit. "Sorry, it's been a long day."

"You should follow our own advice and go to sleep then." She looked at him and smirked a bit.

"I guess I should. But I think I'm going to wait for Harry tonight." Hitsugaya nodded.

"I overheard that he's in detention. Do all detentions last this long?" Hopefully not, since Hitsugaya really wasn't looking forward to spending his Friday evening on writing lines or doing something as dull. Granger's expression darkened.

"Wow, gossip is going around real fast this year. Got to remember to congratulate Lavender and Parvati…" Hitsugaya raised his eyebrows, surprised of the venomous tone in her voice. Granger blinked and shook her head.

"I'm sorry, it's just that all the rumors around us… well, mainly Harry is just getting really old, real fast."

"I understand."

"Anyway, to answer your question; no, detentions don't always last anywhere near this long. I'm getting kind of worried, and that's why I need to stay up. Just to check on things. But you really should go to sleep." The idea was tempting but Hitsugaya really wanted to stay and see the other boy come back. Then again, the girl was sharp and would probably start suspecting him if he insisted to stay… And she really seemed to want some privacy when Potter finally would come back.

"…Yes, I probably should. It was nice talking to you. Good night."

"Likewise. Good night Toushirou!" Hitsugaya took his book and walked towards the boys' dormitories. He walked up a few steps, stopping when he no longer could see Granger and sat down; there was no way he'd just go to sleep after staying up this late. Besides, it was probably good to let the girl think that she and Potter were alone; he might learn something that wouldn't have been mentioned if he was in the room with them. Straining his hearing, Hitsugaya leaned against the wall and listened to sounds that were made as the girl continued her knitting of the bladder (or liver, Hitsugaya still wasn't sure which the lump of wool was supposed to be).

About fifteen minutes later Hitsugaya heard the portrait swing closed and the footsteps of Harry Potter echoed in the nearly empty common room. Due to some clattering and other sounds made by the two, Hitsugaya couldn't quite hear the start of their conversation so he edged a bit closer to the common room, making sure that he couldn't be seen or heard by either one of the fifth years.

"She's a horrible woman. You should tell Dumbledore or McGonagall."

"No, I don't want to bother them with something like this."

"Something like this? Harry that's almost tor—"

"It's nothing, Hermione, okay!"

"No, it's not okay, but don't worry, I'm not saying anything to anyone. But you should."

"Whatever."

"… I'm going to sleep. Good night." Hitsugaya heard Granger walk away and up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. He heard Potter sigh.

"Night…" As Hitsugaya heard the other boy rise and walk towards the dormitories, he decided that it was time he had some rest as well. Potter was safely back in the tower and the boy sounded exhausted as well, so there was no need to worry about the boy wandering the halls alone or anything of the sort. Hitsugaya headed to his room after he had confirmed in which room Potter lived. He opened the door and silently walked to his bed that creaked a little when he sat on it.

"..You still up?" Hitsugaya looked up to see Titus looking through his bed curtains, his blond hair all messy.

"I should ask you that…" Hitsugaya whispered. Titus snorted and yawned.

"Yeah… Connor snores and I don't have earplugs…" The boy yawned again. "But yeah… whatever. Good night." Titus let the curtains hide him from view and went to sleep. Hitsugaya shook his head. The boy had to be really light sleeper if Connors soft snores kept him from sleeping. Changing to his pajamas, Hitsugaya crawled into bed, letting his mind race. Had Granger said that Umbridge had tortured Potter? She seemed like a really unpleasant person but torture? She was a teacher after all so she really shouldn't go that far with students… In a couple of days Hitsugaya would know for himself how far the woman went. He wasn't looking forward to it at all.

The next day went very much like the former; Hitsugaya tried to shadow Harry as well as he could in a castle full of people, without seeming the least bit suspicious as he ran around floors that first years never had their classes in. His self-proclaimed friends were angry with him for not spending time (and sharing his notes) with them, but Hitsugaya didn't really care about that.

When Friday finally came, Hitsugaya was feeling tired and thoroughly pissed. He had stayed up really late, first shadowing Harry and waiting outside Umbridge's office hidden behind a nearby statue and then doing an essay for Potions that he had nearly forgotten. The fact that he had detention himself that evening only worsened his mood. Ella seemed to be rather put down that day as well; the already shy and silent girl seemed to have shrunk as she walked with her back crouched. Jenny was continuously trying to cheer her up and lost 10 points during Potions for not shutting up.

"When are you supposed to go to the detention?" Titus asked while they were doing their homework together. Hitsugaya shifted his gaze from the near-by fifth year trio to the young boy next to him before he tried to concentrate on his history essay again.

"Five." Potter had gone to detention at five everyday now, would they sit there together? Would Umbridge torture (was it even torture?) him and Ella as well?

"Oh, cool…" Hitsugaya looked at Titus who shrugged. "Couldn't make up anything better to say."

"Toushirou." Hitsugaya looked up to see Jenny and Ella standing next to them. "Will you go with Ella to the detention? She doesn't want to go by herself." Hitsugaya looked at the shy girl who gave him an apologetic smile.

"Sure." Jenny smiled at him as well and nodded.

"Okay! It's settled then! Meet her at the portrait hole ten to five!" With that the girls left Titus and Hitsugaya to their homework.

"…She's like my mom, real bossy." Titus said and Hitsugaya nodded. Hitsugaya looked at the Potter trio, they were doing their own homework as well, all of them seeming rather bothered. He noted that Ron seemed particularly nervous; the boy's face was really pale and he was continuously changing positions and biting his nails.

"It's really too bad you have that detention, since you'll miss the tryouts." Hitsugaya made a small sound that could be interpreted as an agreement or just simply a noise made by someone who didn't really care. Witch Hitsugaya really didn't; he hadn't come here to have fun. And even though the thought of detention didn't exactly appeal to him, the hope that Harry would be in detention this night too was high. Maybe he'd be able to use the detention as an excuse to get closer to the boy.

Twenty to five Hitsugaya went back to his room, putting his books away. He briefly wondered what he was supposed to take with him to the detention; would he need a wand? A quill maybe? Pondering over the problem for a while he shoved his wand into his pocket and left the quill; the professor could probably loan one if it was needed. He sat on his bed, looking at the little bag that was place near his pillow, feeling the distant echoes of Hyorinmaru's roars. _Just a bit longer, tonight we are going to soar again! _The thought cheered Hitsugaya more than he would have thought. The strain from repressing his reiatsu had been building day by day and his concentration was slipping more easily than usually. Night couldn't come quick enough…

"Toushirou?" Hitsugaya looked up and to the door to see Euan's peek inside the room.

"Yes?"

"Jenny's looking for you, something about you meeting Elle?" _Inpatient little girl… throw in a bucketful of enthusiasm and she'd be like Kusajishi-fukutaichou…_ The sheer thought of another person like the pink haired menace had chills going down his spine and he shivered involuntarily. "…You okay, mate?" Hitsugaya blinked.

"Yeah... I mean yes. I'll be right down."

"Ok…" The boy left and Hitsugaya sighed, giving the realm bag a long longing look before standing up and leaving the room. Down stairs in the common room he saw Jenny and Ella, the former impatiently pacing the room while the latter was sitting in a chair, looking miserable.

"I thought I told you to be here at ten to five!" The blond girl said angrily the second she laid eyes on him. Hitsugaya looked at the clock on the wall (that mercifully was muggle styled, instead of wizarding world own invention that was really hard to read in Hitsugaya's opinion).

"…It's quarter to five."

"It is?" The girl whirled around and then looked at her own watch. "Oh… I guess mum set this to be five minutes early so I wouldn't be late for anything… oops." The girl gave Hitsugaya an apologetic smile that he accepted with a nod. He wasn't going to start arguing about something like this.

"You should go already or you won't get a good seat." Ella said to her friend. "I heard that pretty much everyone is going to go and look at the tryouts." The blond looked a bit hesitant and she looked at Hitsugaya.

"Make sure she won't be late. C'ya later Ella, I'll tell you everything, okay? It's like you'd be there, I promise!" The shy girl smiled widely and nodded and the blond ran towards the exit. Hitsugaya looked around, and it really seemed like all the first years were going. Most of the older students however, didn't seem that interested, except for those who were obviously participating in the 'event'. Hitsugaya didn't see how one could get a bad seat with so few people going…He looked at Ella, raising his eyebrows. The girl laughed nervously.

"I know she's trying to cheer me and all, but her fussing makes it just worse sometimes…" Hitsugaya nodded.

"Shall we go then?" Without waiting her answer, Hitsugaya headed for the portrait hole and climbed through it. Ella followed him and the two made their way to Umbridge's office. When they got there, Harry Potter was just about to knock on the door. Hitsugaya realized that the boy must have used another secret passage way since they had left before him. Ella nudged him.

"That's Harry Potter…" She sounded somewhat terrified. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. Potter was the object of many first years' fear, as most of them believed him to be dangerously crazy.

"I know." Hitsugaya nodded to the boy and Harry nodded back, giving a weak smile that was probably meant as a 'I'm-not-crazy' –smile but obviously it didn't seem like that to Ella who hid behind Hitsugaya's back. Harry sighed and knocked on the door and a sickenly sweet voice told them to enter. Harry opened the door and the three entered the room of Professor Umbridge.

Hitsugaya had to fight his gag reflex as he entered the room. The décor screamed 'girly' and 'fluff' and all the pink hurt Hitsugaya's eyes. He couldn't understand how anyone could feel safe and relaxed in a room like this.

Umbridge was sitting behind her table when they entered. She smiled at them sweetly and put down her quill. "So, three rule breakers today, hmm? And all from the same house! You Gryffindors seem to have a habit of getting to trouble." Her smile widened. Hitsugaya looked at Potter's expression from the corner of his eye. The boy's expression was **stoic **but his eyes revealed his repulsion towards the woman.

"So, Mr. Potter, you know the drill by now. The quill is on the table." Potter walked to the only desk in the room, sat down and started writing on the parchment that was on the desk. _That's strange… there's no ink…_ Hitsugaya sifted his attention to the smiling Professor again.

"I'm afraid that Mr. Potter is such a handful that all my attention must be on him so the two of you are going to spend the evening with Mr. Filch, polishing every trophy in the trophy room. He should arrive here shortly." Umbridge's smile widened as Ella's face paled and she nervously glimpsed at the boy. The woman was out to get Potter, Hitsugaya realized. Or she seemed more than happy to spread and magnify the rumors about him.

Soon there was a knock on the door and the rather unpleasant man that was called Filch entered the room. "Ah, right on time Mr. Filch. I'll leave these two in your care then while I keep my eye on Mr. Potter." The man nodded and smiled, revealing a set of unclean teeth.

"I'll take good care of then, ma'am! Come on then." Hitsugaya and Ella followed the man out from the office and through hallways until they reached the **trophy room**. "There are your tools; you get to leave when all of these shine! Get to work!" Hitsugaya sighed as he looked at the amount of the work but decided to get started right away. Ella followed his lead and they both started polishing the old trophies and medals that had accumulated in the room. Filch was sitting in the corner, reading a book and mumbling to himself. "Well, this isn't that bad." Ella whispered. Hitsugaya nodded although he thought otherwise; he hated washing dishes and polishing was far too similar to it for his tastes.

A few uneventful hours later they had polished every trophy and medal in the room and were standing in the middle of the room while Filch examined their work. After he had inspected all of the trophies he nodded grudgingly to both of them. "This will do. Now off with you!" Hitsugaya and Ella were quick to follow his advice and exited the room.

"I wonder if the Quidditch tryouts are already over?" Ella said and she tried looking out from a window.

"Probably. It's late and dark, so it'd be hard to see how the players perform." Ella smiled.

"You know, you sometimes sound like an adult." The comment took Hitsugaya by surprise and he glared at the girl, who was obviously hurt by his reaction. Hitsugaya took a deep breath. He shouldn't scare these people, but he really hadn't waited for her or anyone else to notice his behavior this early.

"I… I've seen and heard thing in my life that forced me to grow up early. That's all." The girl only nodded, probably still upset. They reached the Gryffindor tower and Hitsugaya said the password. As they entered the common room, they were greeted by sounds of a party that was getting started. They searched their classmates from the crowd of Gryffindors. Hitsugaya quickly scanned the room and found Potter missing; this wasn't really a surprise, considering how late Umbridge had kept him in detention the previous nights.

"What's going on?" Hitsugaya asked as he reached his dorm mates. Ella left them to join Jenny and some other girls in their class.

"A party for the new keeper, of course!" Euan answered.

"Oh."

"It's that Weasley boy, you know the prefect? Potter's friend?" Titus explained. Hitsugaya nodded. Of course he knew. "He flew okay, although I think he needs a lot of training."

"It's too bad first years aren't allowed to bring their own brooms or tryout for the team. I mean, I'm pretty good at flying!" Connor said.

"But didn't Potter get on the team on his first year?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah, he's supposedly pretty good."

"I bet he's nothing special. It's just his fame talking." Connor said. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"By the way Toushiro, did you notice the announcement on wall about flying classes?" Owen asked, sitting next to the pale boy. Hitsugaya blinked.

"No."

"Oh, we are starting flying lessons next week. I'm kinda excited, although the thought of flying with a broom also freaks me out. How do you sit on it and not fall?" The thought had not crossed Hitsugaya's mind before, but now that he thought about it, sitting on a broom seemed like rather painful thing too.

"You use your balance. That's how… But don't worry, I'll catch you when you fall." Connor said, smirking.

"You mean if I fall."

"I mean when you fall." Owen and Connor glared at each other and Hitsugaya rolled his eyes. He wondered why they bothered to keep Connor with them since the boy continuously tried to start a fight.

"Hey Connor, Andrew, let's go." Euan rose and Connor followed him into the crowd of partying upperclassmen.

"Where are they going?" Hitsugaya asked.

"To see the Weasley twins. They have some 'new goods'." Titus said.

"You're not going Owen?"

"No, I'm not crazy enough to become a guinea pig." Hitsugaya nodded. Owen turned look at all of them and pulled cards from his pocket. "Fancy a game or two while we wait for the others to come back?" Hitsugaya nodded, it's not like he could go to the forest or to bed before Potter was back from his detention.

Few hours later Connor, Euan and Andrew came back, the two former supporting the latter and sitting him down. Owen, Titus and Hitsugaya paused in their game to stare at the three.

"You've got a little something under your noses…All three of you…" Titus said, rising his own finger to point the area. Hitsugaya squinted.

"Is that blood?"

"Yeah!" Connor exclaimed proudly.

"Did you get into a fight or something?" Owen asked.

"No, they had these real cool tablets that you can take during classes and they make your nose bleed."

"…Yeah… great…. So what's wrong with you?" Titus looked at Andrew who was vigorously wiping the blood away with his sleeve. The boy stopped and blushed.

"I'm not good with blood…"

"Tch. 'Not good with blood'… He fainted"

"Oh…"

"I think I'm going to bed. I feel a bit woozy." Andrew stood up and walked towards the boys dormitories. As Hitsugaya looked the boy go, he saw Potter going through the door as well. _When the hell did he come back?_

"I'm going too." He stood up and followed Andrew, leaving the other boys to look at their retreating backs. Hitsugaya supported Andrew as the boy walked up the stairs, tripping over many of the steps. They passed Potter just as he shut the door to his room. Well at least Hitsugaya now knew the boy's exact location. Safe. He'd make sure that the boy was sleeping before he'd head to the forest.

The mare thought of going to the forest and unwind brought a surge of excitement that he hadn't felt in a long time… Okay, so he hadn't had the chance to use Hyorinmaru for a bit over a week but still… He needed the distraction and stress release.

Andrew was quick to climb into his own bed and it didn't take long before Hitsugaya could hear the boy's deep breathing as he had fallen asleep. Hitsugaya himself stayed awake, grapping the realm bag and stretching inside it, feeling for his Shihakushō and Hyorinmaru. After finding everything he closed the realm bag and lied down, deciding to take a nap while waiting for the rest of his roommates to get back and go to sleep.

A few hours later Hitsugaya woke. He sat up on his bed and listened intently. One…two…three… four breathing patterns. Good, everyone was sleeping. He silently slid off from the bed, leaving the curtains shut. Grapping his bag, he made his way to the door, making sure he made absolutely no noise whatsoever. After he shut the door he walked down the stair, all the way listening intently; after all, the fact that his 'friends' were sleeping, didn't necessarily mean that the party was over yet. But it seemed like a long day had taken its toll on everyone, since the common room was deserted except for one boy who was sleeping on the couch. The fire from in the fireplace had been reduced to mare embers, leaving the room quite dark as well since someone had switched the lights off, probably to let the teen on the couch sleep more easily.

Hitsugaya let himself out of the common room via the portrait hole. The Fat Lady was softly snoring as he exited. Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya _shunpo-ed_ towards the castle's main doors, figuring it would be for the best. The people who could be roaming around the castle (such as Filch and various professors or students) wouldn't be able to see him when moving with such speed. Of course, he tried to keep real quiet as to not draw unnecessary attention to the fact that something 'unusual' was going on behind their backs. Although, it'd be easy to just frame the poltergeist. If rumors were to be trusted, Filch's first suspect was always Peeves be whatever the situation.

It didn't take him long to reach the castle doors, it also didn't take him long to unlock it and run to the shadows of the forest. As soon as he was safe under the first set of trees Hitsugaya stopped and looked around. It seemed that no one was a around. The cottage near the forest seemed deserted too, Hitsugaya had never seen light coming from its windows or anyone entering the place. Without another thought he threw the bag he was carrying to ground and started rummaging through it, pulling out various clothes and of course, his Zanpaktou. He set the blade to rest against a tree while he changed from his day clothes to his Shihakushō. The familiar texture against his skin made him feel like things were a bit more normal, like they should.

After putting on his white haori, he grabbed his other clothes and unceremoniously stuffed them inside the realm bag. After closing the bag, he took Hyorinmaru and attached it to the sash he always wore to enable him to carry the long Zanpaktou. He strapped the realm bag over his left shoulder and ran towards the heart of the forest; if wanted to let loose, he needed to get as far away from the castle as he dared.

The trees grew larger and grew closer to each other the further he ran, making it impossible to run a straight line. It was a small wonder people got lost in there; it was easy to lose sense of direction when you continuously had to go around trees and large rocks. One could not even look at the stars unless one found a clearing; the trees grew so close together that the branches blocked the view. Hitsugaya stopped when he found a small clearing. The moon bathed the small clearing with its pale light and wind blew, moving the ancient trees' branches.

_Perfect__. _Hitsugaya took Hyorinmaru from its sheath and looked at the blade, raising it before him. He closed his eyes, preparing to release all the reiatsu that he had been repressing for the last week at once. He let out a breath and released his hold, feeling the air grow cold at a speed that wasn't natural. At the same time he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and he breathed in the chilly air, feeling better than in a long time.

Hitsugaya opened his eyes and sure enough the clearing was covered in thick ice. The moon light seemed to have intensified thanks to the ice and in Hitsugaya's opinion it was absolutely beautiful. Pity he had to thaw the ice before he returned to the castle in the morning… Well, that'd just help him get rid of some more reiatsu.

Hitsugaya decided to worry about such trivial things later: Now it was time to train, time to hone his skills and time to give himself a break from being a normal human boy. Hitsugaya started training with Kata, moving on to Suburi after an hour. This was when he sensed that someone, no, some_thing_ was watching him. Hitsugaya ceased his exercises and looked around the clearing. He could not see anything, but he heard something. It was like something was slowly shuffling towards him. Turning towards the sound, he held his sword ready, preparing for an attack. As he turned, the sound stopped and another one started, coming from the tree on the other side of the clearing. Then another one just like it on his left and soon one on his right. He felt it, he was surrounded. But by _what,_ exactly? It didn't feel human, nor an animal, although the animalistic hunting intent was noticeable in the air.

After a while the shuffling sound in front of him continued and Hitsugaya shifted to a more defending stance. He could feel Hyorinmaru's excitement over the situation; the dragon had been kept away from any action for far too long. Hitsugaya smirked at the Zanpaktou's enthusiasm and prepared for the oncoming battle, feeling slightly eager to fight for real himself.

Slowly, from under the trees shadows a creature shuffled towards him, stopping when half of its body could be seen under the moon's light. Hitsugaya blinked. _A spider?_ He felt somewhat disappointed, even though the spider was a bit larger compared to the ones he usually saw crawling over Matsumoto's undone paperwork. Okay, so a bit large was an understatement, the spider was almost as big as a car.

The spider had great difficulties to move on the ice, Hitsugaya noticed as the creature tried to get a bit closer, yet its legs failing to support its massive body on the slippery ice. A rustle behind him reminded Hitsugaya that he was indeed surrounded and he looked around, confident that the spider in front of him couldn't move quick enough to catch him off guard. There were more than a few of the gigantic spiders, Hitsugaya noted. Many of them were crawling towards him, using the trees and more of the beady eyed creatures were slowly making their way towards him on the ice.

Hitsugaya nodded to himself, giving credit to the beasts for blocking his escape routes. Of course, he had the option of simply taking to the skies and fleeing, not that the creatures knew of his abilities. And he wasn't one for fleeing and neither was Hyorinmaru. With a loud screech the spiders attacked, most of them swarming towards him, slipping on the ice, while the others spat web at him.

Hitsugaya was quick to react, dodging and blocking the spiders' attacks. He cut off legs, running among the nasty creatures and slashed one of them in half. The shrieks seemed to attract more of the spiders that resided in the forest and the clearing was getting crowded.

Hitsugaya raised his Zanpaktou towards the skies.

"Sit upon the frozen heavens!" He waved the Zanpaktou in a large arc as a great ice and water dragon emerged from its tip, roaring as it charged towards the swarm of overgrown arachnids. The dragon attacked the spiders with its jaw open, seemingly devouring the creatures. Any spider that so much as touched the dragon froze over in an instant only to be shattered as the dragon's body hit them shortly after. Hitsugaya could feel Hyorinmaru's joy, even if the opponents weren't really that strong. _**Victory will be ours!**_ The roar echoed in his head as he fended off the spiders attacking him. He used the chain at the end of his Zanpaktou to trap the creatures in ice before shattering them with clean cuts.

It didn't take long before the remaining spiders started to flee, finally realizing that they had no chance of winning. Hitsugaya could feel Hyorinmaru's need to chase after the cowardly creatures but Hitsugaya stayed still as he watched the last of the spiders crawl from the clearing. He didn't want to sway the forests balance by killing a whole species.

Hitsugaya sighed. It had been fun, training against living things, yet he figured that this might have been his first and last time fighting creatures of the forests. No living thing in the forest would dare to come near him after this for sure.

Hyorinmaru roared in his mind, enjoying the victory, yet disappointed for the shortness of the battle. Hitsugaya shook his head. He started training his Kata again as well as Suburi and Battoho, promising Hyorinmaru that they take the skies afterwards. The Shinigami smiled at the rumble that he more felt than heard coming from the dragon.

**End of Chapter 7**

Okay, here's the long awaited chapter. Sorry it took so long, there has been some unfortunate things happening in my personal life lately that desperately needed my attention so I had to work those out before I could really concentrate on anything else.

But I think I'm starting to have control over things again, so I deemed it safe to continue writing once again.

So, how did you like the chapter?

In the next chapter I'm going to write from other people's POW as well, (no, don't worry, not from the OCs' POWs ) so that the story will gain a bit more perspective.


	8. Chapter 8

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
**Taichou** means captain  
**Soutaichou** means captain-commander  
**Shinigami **means death reaper  
**Seireitei** is where the shinigami reside  
**Soul Society** consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
**Reiatsu** means spiritual pressure  
**Reiryoku** means spiritual energy  
**Shihakushō** is the whole attire that the Shinigami wear (Garment of dead souls)  
**Kata** = Forms, it's kind of shadow boxing. Using Kata you can train using your full strength without the fear of injuring your opponent, because the opponent is imaginary  
**Suburi** = Cutting exercises  
**Battoho** = Drawing techniques

You'll probably notice me switching between the English terms and Japanese terms in this chapter, and those switched have been thought through to make the story more clear and easy to read. I usually use the Japanese terms when a character speaks and the English terms in other texts.

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

I will NOT be pairing Hitsugaya with anyone. But he'll have probably have fans.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 8**

Saturday morning had been eventful for Albus Dumbledore. He had been woken up by one of the house elves early that morning; the creature had told him that Professor McGonagall had urgent news and that she was waiting for him in his office. Dumbledore had dragged himself up and had met the Transfiguration professor and long time friend. Minerva had seemed mildly concerned and rather harassed as she had informed him that the Centaurs wanted to talk to him about something that had happened in the forest. So, with a wary sigh he had pulled himself up and dressed before he had made his way towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest with McGonagall in tow.

Now, Dumbledore had known these Centaurs for a long time, yet it never got easier to get the actual information out of them. That morning had been no different to countless before it and it took him a bit over an hour to gather what had upset the Centaurs so. It seemed that there was a new menace in the forest that had left a lot of dead frozen spiders and blocks of ice in its wake. Of course, the thing that had upset the Centaurs really was that the stars had not indicated that something like this would happen…

Dumbledore had thanked the Centaurs of their warning and headed right back to his office, sat before his table and wrote a short letter all the while avoiding Minerva's inquiries about why he didn't seem all that concerned. He had woken up Fawkes and sent the phoenix on its way. After that he had sent Minerva away, telling her that he'd explain all later. The woman had agreed to leave without answers, although rather grudgingly.

And now, he was waiting for his special guest. And he had been waiting over half an hour now. Just as he started wondering what could keep the boy, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." The door opened and he hid a smile as his guest sent him an annoyed look. He had probably interrupted something important then, and he had a good guess what the boy had been doing. Granted, he himself had not been expecting to see the boy so soon after their last meeting and could see why the boy was caught unawares by the invitation. "Good morning, Hitsugaya-san. Please, sit down." Dumbledore motioned to the chair opposing him and the boy took a seat.

"Is there a problem, Dumbledore-san? Have you found Voldemort?" _Straight to the point, I see._ He had gotten the feeling that Hitsugaya was not the one for chit-chat already the first time they met. And it seemed that he had been correct to assume so.

"Oh no, I'm afraid that Lord Voldemort is still in hiding. But we are still actively searching." He added quickly as the boy's eyes narrowed. "No, I called you to discuss about something that happened in the forest last night." Hitsugaya's face went blank for a second before realization dawned and he took on a rather apologetic expression.

"I apologize if I have done some damage to your forest; I was just melting the remaining ice as your bird brought me your letter…" Dumbledore smiled widely.

"Ah, so I was right in suspecting you." The death reaper looked away, probably feeling slightly ashamed of his actions. "So, you fight with ice?" Dumbledore asked, his curiosity raising its head. The boy looked cautious, probably thinking how much he could share.

"Yes, it is my element. Naturally, I have some power over water as well."

"So do all Shinigami wield elements?"

"No."

"I see, then how do they approach a battle?"

"I shouldn't tell you. The less the living know about us, the better."

It was clear that Hitsugaya was not going to change his mind on the matter as he narrowed his eyes to a determinate glare, sending a warning to not to pry too much. Dumbledore smiled, trying to assure the boy that he meant no harm. He had so many questions tucked away about life after death but he knew he was most likely not going to get his questions answered. He had thought about tricking the Shinigami to tell him, but all such thoughts had dissipated when he had actually met him; the appearance was that of a twelve year old, give or take, but the eyes shone of intelligence that had nothing to do with age. This man in a boy's body was not to be underestimated. Hitsugaya cleared his throat, snapping Dumbledore from his thoughts.

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry, I am not in my finest form on mornings, I'm afraid. Especially after dealing with letters from the press, and then dealing with rather hostile people all night." He sent the boy an apologetic smile and Hitsugaya replied with a nod.

"So, will it be a problem if I continue using the forest?" Hitsugaya asked, his expression letting on how much the thought seemed to unsettle him. Dumbledore frowned. Clearly the death reaper needed some place to "unwind" as he had put it, but then again he was slightly concerned about the Centaurs as well.

"I think it will be okay if you keep using the forest until I find you a better place." Dumbledore opened one of the drawers on his desk and pulled out a map of the forest, putting it on the table before Hitsugaya. "This is the Centaurs territory" He drew a large circle, marking the borders. "You should avoid going there, since they are less than friendly with strangers. They believe that there is a new menace in the forest now that they found your battle field."

"I apologize. The spiders would not back away." Dumbledore smiled at the boy, it was amusing how casually Hitsugaya spoke of the acromantula, absolutely no fear could be detected in his voice; normal people would be still shaking in their boots after seeing a car-sized spider. "Do not worry though, I did leave some unharmed as to not damage the ecosystem of your forest permanently."

"How very thoughtful of you" Dumbledore nodded, not bothering to tell him that the spiders weren't really natural habitats of the forest and he secretly wouldn't mind getting rid of them (this of course, he would never say aloud in case Hagrid would learn of it). He gave the map to Hitsugaya who accepted it with a small 'thank you'.

"So, on a slightly lighter matter, how do you find our new Defense professor?" Dumbledore asked, keen to hear what the death reaper thought about the woman. Hitsugaya's expression darkened.

"She's… not to be trusted. I don't like her." Dumbledore nodded.

"She's from the ministry and acting under the minister's orders."He clarified.

"She's after Potter." Dumbledore narrowed his eyes, and motioned for Hitsugaya to elaborate. "You probably know that she put him in detention, but do you know what she made him do?" Dumbledore shook his head, not liking the sound of this at all. Of course he knew about the detentions, Minerva had come to him right after receiving the note from Umbridge, she had been seething and worried and Dumbledore had tried to calm the woman in vain; when it came to Umbridge Minerva seemed loose all control of her otherwise steel like nerves. Not that he himself found it easy to tolerate her. "I haven't been able to confirm it, but I overheard Granger talking with Potter about the detention, calling it torture and edging him to come and talk to you about it."

"That… is very alarming. Of course such things as torture are forbidden in this school. Sadly as long as Harry is not ready to come forward himself, there is little I can do. Umbridge herself would never admit to such a thing as torture, even though I believe she's not above such actions." Hitsugaya nodded.

"I understand. I'll monitor the situation the best I can. I just thought it would be for the best if I alerted you to the situation."

"Yes, thank you for informing me. I was really concerned when Umbridge became the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, she's known for her rather judgmental demeanor…" Dumbledore said. A thought crossed his mind and he smiled, his eyes twinkling as he knew that his next question was going to irk the Death Reaper. "So, how was your detention? I must say I was rather surprised to learn that you had landed yourself in one." Ah, he had been right; Hitsugaya's brow twitched and the neutral expression melted into one of irritation.

"Tch, it was an utter waste of time, I never knew detentions to be so..." Hitsugaya seemed to be looking for a word that'd best describe his feelings towards the punishment. "…unnecessary." He finished with a lamely. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows.

"Am I to understand you've never had any detention before this?"

"That's correct."

"So you have schools in Soul Society?" Hitsugaya sent him a pointed look, he was prying again. Dumbledore smiled innocently back at him, the question was rather harmless in his opinion. It seemed that Hitsugaya reached the same conclusion after a while, as he let out a sigh and brushed a tuft of white hair away from his face before answering.

"Yes, there's the Academy, where all the Shinigami are trained." Ah, short answers again, Hitsugaya didn't want to talk more about the issue. Dumbledore looked at his watch seeing that it was soon time for breakfast.

"Thank you Hitsugaya-san for your troubles, I think I've bothered you enough this morning." To his great amusement, Hitsugaya nodded when he said this, obviously agreeing. "We should both get the day started properly and get something to eat; breakfast is the most important meal of the day after all. Oh, you can keep the map." Hitsugaya nodded again and withdrew his hand, slipping the map into a small bag he had with him. Dumbledore stood up and Hitsugaya followed his lead.

"Have a nice day, Dumbledore- san" With a bow, the boy left his office, leaving the old man smiling to himself. He liked Japanese mannerism; few young men in England bowed these days to their elders. Of course, Dumbledore wasn't really sure if he was the elder when Hitsugaya was concerned, the boy could be older than him. He shook his head; he should try to pry the boy's age next.

**XxXxX**

Hitsugaya walked towards the grand hall at a brisk pace, the realm bag bouncing against his back in a timely rhythm. He had silently thanked the Gods for taking the bag with him to the forest, along with the western styled clothes. He hadn't been expecting the call to meet Dumbledore and it would have taken him even more time if he had had to first sneak into the dorms to change.

Hitsugaya frowned; he would have liked to know about the centaurs and territories a bit earlier. Now he had gone and alerted the creatures to his existence and would have to keep an eye out for any possible hostility coming from them. How annoying, just an hour ago he had been feeling so good he had actually hummed a tune while de-icing the forest!

As he rounded the corner he saw Potter just go into the Great Hall and promptly followed. A quick glance around the room told him that his roomies were still up in the tower, so Hitsugaya, feeling rather daring that morning, sat down right next to Potter. He felt the boy's gaze linger on him for a while but paid no heed to it as he reached for a plate filled with eggs.

"Good morning, Toushirou!" Hitsugaya looked up at Granger, who was smiling at him politely. Hitsugaya nodded to her.

"Granger." He acknowledged. Potter and Weasley exchanged looks before shrugging and starting to pile food on their own plates.

"You're an early raiser I see; are you sure you get enough sleep? You're usually up late as well." _Is she… stalking me?_ Hitsugaya thought, pausing to look at the girl.

"I'm quite sure that I am, thank you…" He so should have sat a bit further off the trio. Hermione frowned, clearly not believing him.

"I don't think you are; I mean you are quite pale!" Hitsugaya opened his mouth to answer the nosy girl but was beat to it.

"Let the bloke be, Hermione."

"Ron, we are prefects; it's our duty to make sure that the younger students are okay!"

"Well there's no need to mother him!"

"Oh great…" Potter whispered to himself, with a tone that told that this was not the first time the two prefects fought.

"I appreciate your concern, Granger-san, but I assure you I'm fine. I'm naturally pale." Hitsugaya said, interrupting whatever it was that Granger was going to say to Weasley (and judging from her expression, it would have been something less than polite).She gave him a gentle, and oh god… _mothering_ smile. Hitsugaya cringed inwardly; a 15 year old girl was mothering him, how embarrassing! He was used to Hinamori fussing over him, but having living little girls doing the same was just annoying. Thank the Gods that Matsumoto was far away, otherwise he would never live this down.

"Oh okay then, but don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it. And call me Hermione." Hitsugaya nodded and the girl seemed satisfied with his silent reply, turning back to her friends and sending a nasty look to Weasley who rolled his eyes, muttering to himself. Potter sighed as they continued their breakfast in peace. Without a warning the mail arrived and the whole Grand Hall was filled with the sound of fluttering wings, hooting and cursing as the birds either spilled the students' food or stole them. One of the birds landed on Hermione's shoulder, dropping a news paper on her lap. She awarded the owl with three pieces of bacon before opening the paper. Hitsugaya looked up, half wishing for a reply from Soul Society, even though he was fairly sure that it'd take longer than a week for the owl to come back with a response; after all, it was a long flight from here to Japan and back.

Hermione opened the paper and scanned through the pages, seemingly only looking at the headlines. Hitsugaya heard her gasp and motion for the two fifth year boys to take a look at an article. Hitsugaya's view of the paper was blocked, leaving him clueless as to what had happened. He frowned as the trio started whispering more intently amongst themselves.

"Morning Toushiro!" Hitsugaya looked up to see Andrew taking a seat next to him. Hitsugaya nodded to the other boy and looked towards the hall doors. It seemed that the other boys were still sleeping. Movement on his right made him look at the scrawny boy again, seeing him sending a wary look towards Potter. _Oh, I forgot Connor's been brainwashing him against Potter and Dumbledore…_

"He won't bite you." Andrew blushed furiously and quickly started piling food on his plate. Hitsugaya tried to eavesdrop on the trio's conversation but he only heard a couple of words that really were no help for him. Andrew leaned towards him, motioning for him to do the same. Hitsugaya's strong sense of personal space made him want to lean away but that would just make him lean towards Potter and look weird, so he let out a breath and leaned slightly towards Andrew.

"Why are we sitting so close to him? We should move!" Hitsugaya rolled his eyes and straightened himself. Connor was doing a top job. He'd have to make sure to find him after he died; the boy would probably fit in well with the 11th or 12th Division.

"Idiot, stop listening to Connor. Potter's just as sane as the rest of us." Andrew didn't look convinced. Hitsugaya sighed, there was no way he could prove Potter to be sane. Hitsugaya might have had a hard time believing himself that a supposedly dead man resurrected if he himself wasn't dead and talking to a living kid in a school of magic while trying to find the resurrected man and simultaneously trying to prepare for a war against a death reaper turned traitor … Yeah… these people had no idea what "unbelievable" meant…

"…So you really believe that You-Know-Who is back?"

"Yes, I do."

They continued eating their breakfast in silence.

XxXxX

Later that evening Hitsugaya sat in the common room with Titus and Owen, playing something called 'exploding snap'. Connor and Andrew had disappeared the minute Hitsugaya had come to talk to Owen and the boy had confirmed his suspicions about the reason.

"I heard that Connor is somehow related to the Minister, so that's probably why he's so mad at you." Owen said to Hitsugaya, who just nodded. He didn't really care that he had lost two 'friends' to 'hang with'. Especially since they were Connor and Andrew, if Owen, Euan and Titus had been the ones who were mad at him he might have been slightly upset, since they were the ones he actually had somewhat good conversations. Although, if they wouldn't want to spend time with him, then he'd have more time hunting Potter.

"I wonder why it suddenly became a problem, we talked about this a few days ago and they didn't seem to really mind." Titus said and threw a card on the table which exploded. Hitsugaya frowned; he was going to lose this game, for the third time in a row, nonetheless! Owen yawned loudly and Hitsugaya was reminded of the fact that he had stayed up all night himself. Maybe he should go to sleep early and then sneak off at night again.

After five more loses Hitsugaya excused himself and left the common room, heading to bed. As he passed the Potter group, he could feel the gloom radiating off them. Quidditch seemed to be bigger thing to these people than he had thought, and he had heard from Titus and Euan who had been following their practice, that their house was officially doomed this year. Not sparing them much thought, Hitsugaya climbed up the stairs to the boys' dormitory and threw himself on his bed, not even bothering to close the curtains or changing his clothes.

xXx

It felt like he had only just fallen asleep when he was woken by a sharp noise. Feeling slightly disoriented, Hitsugaya sat up and listened, trying to figure out what exactly was making the annoying tapping noise. It didn't take his sleep clouded mind long to clear and start working properly. Hitsugaya hopped off his bed and opened the window, letting in three owls, who, in their own "bird-ish" way, managed to looks pissed off. They had probably been tapping the window for a while before Hitsugaya woke.

The owls stuck out their feet and Hitsugaya took the letters, all five of them, and promised the birds that he'd bring them bacon the next morning as a thank you. The seemingly offended owls ruffled their feathers before exiting the room from the still open window. Hitsugaya made a mental note to take a LOT of bacon for the owls; the poor birds had flown a great distance in a very short time.

After shutting the window Hitsugaya took the letters and went back to his bed and tore open the first of the five letters. A quick glance of the handwriting told him it was from Matsumoto. That, and the scent… she had discovered these scented papers in the living world and had taken great liking to them, much to Hitsugaya's dismay. He wasn't into this kind of girly stuff at all. He could stomach much, but this was a bit too much. On the plus side, at least the paper wasn't pink like the last time she had given him a report that had been written on the smelly paper.

_Hello there Taichou!_

Hitsugaya mentally cursed her for using his proper title. Hoping that the rest of the letter held nothing suspicious, he continued reading.

_I hope you're still doing well! I'm doing well and so are the rest of our merry group!_

_Things here are going well, things in Kurosaki's town have calmed down for now at least. He himself keeps sneaking off somewhere, so getting in contact with him has been a hassle! Poor Orihime-chan is worried sick over the idiot. _

_Well, other than that I think you'd like to know that we are all working hard, and that the new club members have started their training. There are a couple of really talented ones in the group this year! I'm quite excited to get to work with them, to knock them down a few pegs, kukukuku…._

_We all miss you very much, especially me! __Please come back safe and soon!_

_Love, _

_Matsumoto_

Hitsugaya wasted a couple of seconds staring at the lip imprints on the paper, before smirking. If she was this keen to have him back soon it meant that his plan had worked; she had been forced to do paperwork! The fact that she hadn't sent any of it to him via mail was a pleasant surprise. Hitsugaya threw Matsumoto's letter on his pillow and took another one. The neat handwriting told him it was from Hinamori.

_Hello Shiro-chan!_

_It's wonderful to hear that you are making friends there in England! I was so worried over you, I've known you for a long time and I know that bonding with people on any level is not one of your strengths._

Hitsugaya frowned. He wasn't quite sure if he should be offended by her statement or touched by her concern over him. He decided on the latter, after all, she had a point.

Kind of.

_I wish I could be there too. I'm getting better, it's a slow progress, but I'm starting to get my strength back.__ Unohana taichou herself has been treating me, so I'm sure I'll up and about by the time you come back. I know that you're worried over me but don't be, I'm not all alone here. Kira and Matsumoto have been a great support and Ukitake-taichou has also been visiting me. I have to get them something nice after I'm fully recovered._

_I hope for your safe return! Don't work too hard and remember to eat well._

_Love_

_Hinamori_

Hitsugaya read the letter again, smiling slightly. He was relieved to hear that others were taking care of Hinamori in his place. He'd buy them something nice as well. Especially for Ukitake who seemed to be taking even more Hitsugaya's responsibilities. Hinamori sounded almost like herself in the letter and it made his heart feel like it was unclenching. Taking a deep breath, Hitsugaya picked up another letter, this time not recognizing the handwriting. Ripping the envelope open, Hitsugaya read the short letter.

_To Toushiro_

_Heard the story from Renji and Rukia. __Sounded ridiculous._

_Anyways, I'm not going to be home or a while, so I'm sending you Inoue's __address. Rukia will tell her the deal. _

_The owls are freaky. I'm sure Inoue will love them._

_-Ichigo_

Hitsugaya searched the envelope to find a small post-it note in which was written an address in blocky letters. He frowned, Ichigo had been chosen because of his substitute shinigami status and now Orihime, a mortal, had been thrown into the mix. And if something were to happen to her then who was he supposed to contact? Shrugging, he threw the letter on top of the other two he had already read, and picked up the second last letter.

_To Hitsugaya_

_After thinking and discussing __the imprint matter we came to the thought that these dead might not have yet fully realized their deaths and thus not fully let go of their bodies. Under normal circumstances this shouldn't be possible, but the magic there might be acting like spirit particles in here, thus keeping them from manifesting their chains. This would also partly explain the low number of hollows in England. _

_Currently we do not know of a way to perform a kons__ō on such soul and we do not believe a normal konsō would suffice. We will discuss with the captain of the kidō corps about enhancing the konsō. We will report back about that as soon as we learn something new. _

_The sample you send us is very interesting, __Captain Kurotsuchi hasn't been this excited in a while, he wishes for you to send more, preferably something living. We have tried to make a communicator that would work near the Remembral but so far all our hard work has been futile. Please try to understand that this is going to take a while. Our researching equipments start malfunctioning in its presence… Well, it's not like you have any other option but to while we work this out. _

_Try not to break anything of ours and remember to send us something of theirs._

_-__ Research and Development Bureau_

The letter left Hitsugaya's brow twitching. Kurotsuchi hadn't even taken the time to write the report himself and still had the nerve ask him to send something living to experiment on! And whoever wrote the letter should seriously try to remember that he was a captain and respect it enough to write a polite letter. Not that he was the only one who received such treatment; the 12th assumed that everyone else were idiots compared to them so their attitude was justified in their opinion. The only ones who enjoyed their true respect (aside from Kurotsuchi, obviously) were Yamamoto-soutaichou and Unohana Retsu, of whom the entire world was scared on a level.

Deciding to be the grown up one in this, Hitsugaya set the letter aside on the pile of already read letters instead of ripping it apart like he wanted. Reaching for the final letter he ripped the envelope open and started reading the letter which in all probability was from Yamamoto.

_Hitsugaya-Taichou_

_If you find that so__meone who is acting suspiciously or breaking the very rules of life, you have the permission to deal with it accordingly without further consent. I trust your judgment._

_I have contacted the captain of the Kidō corps and we shall find a way for you to send the imprints to this realm. I'd like you to continue your investigations and send Kurotsuchi more samples so we may start understanding the magical world better. __They don't have to be living, if you prefer it that way._

_Keep working hard and give us weekly reports; including reports of new possible ways to fight Aizen._

_-__ Yamamoto Genryusai, Captain-Commander_

Hitsugaya sighed. If the letters had been intercepted it left no room for wondering if he was suspicious. He had tried to warn them, give them a hint of this in his own letters, but either everyone had been too stupid to notice or then they had just blatantly ignored his warnings. He wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter.

Hitsugaya spent a while only looking at the letters lined up on his pillow, thinking about the people who sent them. It didn't take him long to realize that he actually missed his home. Sure he had been on long term missions in the living world before, however he had always had another shinigami with him. Now that he was alone he felt... well, lonely. Of course, hell would freeze over before he'd admit it out loud to anyone.

Hitsugaya reached for his wand and uttered a simple incantation and a small flame lit itself on the tip of the wood. Hitsugaya carefully burnt the letters, making sure that the fire couldn't spread. The last letter (the one from Matsumoto) burned in an instant, leaving a horrible smell in its wake. Hitsugaya threw the ashes out the window and checked the watch. He decided to leave the homework for tomorrow and went back to sleep.

**XxXxX**

Okay, first of all: I'm sorry for the very late update. And I'm sorry that now that I finally update it's a bit short.

This chapter has been half ready for months now, however I wasn't satisfied enough with it to actually update it. And then I had some muse motivational problems a.k.a. writers block as well. And then there's been a ton of thing happening in real life (hospital visits, university entrance exams, over all drama and work, for example).

It wasn't until Princess Serena til Universo send me a PM that I started thinking that maybe it's better to finish this crappy chapter and update it than wait till my muse gets back into gear. I can edit this later, right?

So, once again, sorry for the wait! I know this wasn't much but at least now you know I'm still alive as is this story!

- Pureya


	9. Chapter 9

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
**Taichou** means captain  
**Soutaichou** means captain-commander  
**Shinigami **means death reaper  
**Seireitei** is where the shinigami reside  
**Soul Society** consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
**Reiatsu** means spiritual pressure  
**Reiryoku** means spiritual energy  
**Shihakushō** is the whole attire that the Shinigami wear (Garment of dead souls)

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

I will NOT be pairing Hitsugaya with anyone. But he'll have probably have fans.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 9**

Monday morning the Great Hall of Hogwarts Castle was filled with students, eagerly chatting away as the most recent news was passed from student to another. Hitsugaya, who had slept quite late that morning as he had once again sneaked of to train during the night, was feeling rather confused. As he searched the Gryffindor table for his friends, he listened to all the whispers around him, trying to make sense of all the fuss.

"I heard that Fudge is trying to take over the school!" He heard a third year girl whisper to another, who looked shocked over the news. Hitsugaya frowned; he had talked with Dumbledore just yesterday and the man had said nothing of the sort. Of course, Hitsugaya already knew that the ministry of magic tried to hinder Dumbledore's attempt to convince people that Voldemort was back, but someone taking over the school? Dumbledore had assured them that Hitsugaya would be able to work safely inside the castle. It was of utmost importance that only a selected few (exactly one for now) knew of his secret. Scowling, Hitsugaya looked over to the teacher's table. To his dismay, he could not see Dumbledore there, but he saw Professors Sprout and McGonagall having a quiet discussion, while both of them were giving Umbridge fleeting glares. Umbridge on the other hand looked as smug as Omaeda after defeating a seated officer in a mock battle.

"Morning Toushiro! Heard the news already?" Hitsugaya looked over to Owen who motioned him to take a seat between himself and Jenny.

"No, I haven't."

"Umbridge's become a High Inquisitor of Hogwarts." Hitsugaya raised his eyebrow. A what now?

"Yeah, I know, I haven't got a clue what's it supposed to mean either, but all the older students are really excited… or mad, however you want to put it."

"It just means that she's going to have some influence inside the castle. I don't know how much though." Titus said. Hitsugaya frowned. It seemed like the political war in the magical world was starting to get more intense and visible. Soon it would be clear who stood with Dumbledore and who didn't.

"C'mon Ella, eat something!" Hitsugaya looked as the two girls sitting across from them. Jenny was poking Ella with a fork as the other girl looked miserably at her plate while mumbling that she wasn't hungry.

"Just quit it Jen, if she won't eat, then she won't eat." Owen said to the blond girl who merely glared at him.

"What's wrong with her?" Hitsugaya asked Titus who shrugged. Jenny put the fork down and looked at Hitsugaya.

"She thought she saw Sirius Black in the common room fire last night, and then had nightmares all night. Ella's always been a bit sensitive to these things; she's got a real quick imagination."

"In the fire?"

"Oh yeah, you're still a muggle born. Wizards can travel from fireplace to another via Floo Powder**. **You throw some Floo Powder in to the fire and either step inside the fire and get transported to the fireplace that you request or just stick your head into the fire and make a "house call", so to speak." Titus explained. Hitsugaya nodded, even thought he didn't quite understand why anyone would stick their heads into a fire, be it magical or not. "But I doubt that it'd be possible for Sirius Black to appear in the Gryffindor common room fire; or for anyone else to appear there aside from the teachers. The castle security is pretty tight." He continued and turned his attention to the girls. Jenny nodded.

"Yeah, I said the same thing. But as I said, Ella's pretty sensitive to these kinds of things. And the fact that Black has once before infiltrated the castle didn't help calming her down." Hitsugaya just nodded. So much had happened that week that he had actually forgotten to ask more about Black from Dumbledore, despite hearing of the man already during his first night at the castle.

"How did Black get inside the castle the first time?"

"No one knows, or at least the information hasn't been leaked yet… But he got in the common room by stealing a note where all the passwords were written." Hitsugaya nodded, Euan had told him as much on their first night here. He would ask about this as well from Dumbledore the next time they met.

The day's lessons seemed to just fly by and Hitsugaya found himself admired again after he had succeeded with the levitation spell on first try. He had himself been quite surprised by it, but fairly pleased that he was finally starting to get the hang of using the wand. And he was happy to have earned Gryffindor 10 points. He liked collecting those points, it felt real rewarding. He briefly wondered if the same system could be used within the Divisions to inspire some competitiveness between them. But then he remembered that in their ranks were the 12th Division and 11th Division, so any more of competitiveness might just destroy them all. Well, maybe he could just try to make it work inside his Division then. It was certainly worth the thought.

"You excited?" Hitsugaya heard Euan ask from Titus.

"More like nervous…" The other one said his face uncharacteristically pale. "I'm scared of heights." Titus grudgingly admitted. They were walking down the castle lawn towards the Quidditch field where they would have their first flying lessons. The thought of flying lifted Hitsugaya's mood but the thought of flying with a broom made him want to hide his face in shame. A shinigami on a broom and one with a dragon spirit nonetheless; what was this world coming to?

"What about you Toushirou?" Euan turned to Hitsugaya while Titus clutched his stomach, looking near ready to throw up.

"I'm not scared of heights."

"That wasn't really what I was asking about, you know."

"I'm not nervous or excited either."

"Oh. You're just as weird as always." Hitsugaya nodded his head. If that's how the boy wanted to see it, then fine. He was weird for not being nervous of handling a cleaning equipment. Other students were trailing after them, and while they were sharing the lesson with Slytherins, it seemed that all the students were too nervous to start a house war. At least for the moment.

When they reached the Quidditch field, a hawkish looking woman was already there waiting for them, with a broom in her hand. She waited until all the students had lined up before she started talking.

"I am Madam Hooch, and I will be teaching you how to fly with a broom. Note that in this class falling to one's death is not an impossibility (Titus groaned next to Hitsugaya, going a shade whiter), so I will not tolerate any playing around. You will all behave and listen to my advices, am I understood?"

"Yes, Madam Hooch." They choired in a way that only those who had been taught by Umbridge could. Madam Hooch seemed momentarily surprised by their chorused answer but didn't let it bother her as she continued with the lesson.

"Now, everyone take a broom and get in two rows, facing each other". The students did as they were told, each of them getting one of the schools brooms that were piled on the ground. Hitsugaya looked at the thing. It looked like an ordinary broom that had seen better days. Shrugging his rising doubt away, Hitsugaya took his place between Titus and Euan. He was facing some Slytherin boy who stuck out his tongue when Hitsugaya looked at him. Rolling his eyes, Hitsugaya turned his attention to the teacher again.

"Set your brooms on the ground next to you. Then rise your right hand above them and say "UP"" She did the steps herself and as she said 'up' the broom jumped to her hand. "What are you waiting for? Try it out!" Changing unsure looks the students did as they were told.

"Up!" Hitsugaya commanded the broom and the broom did as it was told, although it swiftly evaded his outstretched hand and smacked him squarely in the jaw instead. Furious, Hitsugaya grabbed the thing and glared at it. "You little twig! I should snap you in two…" He mumbled to himself as Euan laughed next to him. Hitsugaya sent the boy a pointed glare; Euan's broom hadn't as much as twitched as he had commanded it. Titus, on his other side, was still gathering the courage to actually say the word. It couldn't be more obvious that he would rather be anywhere else. Hitsugaya looked around and noticed that Connor, Owen and Andrew were all already holding their brooms. Most of the class was, actually, and Madam Hooch nodded approvingly.

"Try again, try again! Don't be scared of the broom, you need to show them who's the boss." Titus groaned and weakly said 'up' and his broom merely shuddered. He looked up to Hitsugaya as if silently begging for help. Hitsugaya just shrugged; the boy was on his own now. After his sixth try, even Titus managed to get the broom to obey him. Madam Hooch then proceeded to show them how to mount their brooms and corrected their grips. She nodded approvingly when she saw Hitsugaya's grip. After decades of fighting with a sword of course he would how to have a sturdy grip. Not that she knew that.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, I want all of you to kick off the ground, hard. And after that, you'll rise up in the air a little and then you'll come down, slowly. If something goes wrong, don't panic, just wait for instructions. To descent with your broom, you need to lean slightly forward, but be careful not to lean too much or you'll just shoot off to the distance."

"Oh man…" Hitsugaya could hear Titus moan. He couldn't help smirking; while he felt bad for the boy, he also found his little curses and moans amusing. Madam Hooch looked around the nervous students before nodding to herself.

"Everyone ready? Okay then..." And she blew the whistle. At the same time, all the students kicked off. Hitsugaya rose the highest and looked down at the others, wondering how high he could rise before he had to come down. "You there! Yes you with the white hair! Don't go any further!" Madam Hooch bellowed from the ground. Hitsugaya frowned but obeyed. He leaned slightly forward and felt the broom first halt and then start to slowly descent. He passed Euan and Titus on his way down. Euan was having trouble finding the correct angle to get his broom to descent and was slowly drifting forward instead. Titus on the other hand, was slowly coming down. Slowly being about as fast a snail moves forward. His eyes were tightly shut and he was muttering 'oh god' repeatedly. None of the students seemed to have been left on the ground. Hitsugaya hopped off his broom when he was only a couple of feet from the ground, clutching the cleaning equipment. Madam Hooch glared at him.

"No one is to dismount until their feet reach the ground!" She shouted and sent him a pointed look. Hitsugaya frowned, like he had known that. Or cared for that matter…

After everyone had landed safely, Madam Hooch taught them how to turn, go forward and so on. After they had tried everything out under her supervision, they were allowed to fly on their own a bit. Hitsugaya kicked off the ground and rose as high as he dared; he didn't want to have points taken from Gryffindor for disobeying a teacher that had set the rules only to make sure no one fell to his death.

"This is great, right, Hitsugaya?" Euan shouted as he flew around the white haired boy.

"Not really." He had soared through skies with dragon's wings. Nothing could beat that freedom, least of all sitting on a twig made for cleaning. Euan's face fell.

"Seriously mate, there's something wrong with you." Then he shifted his eyes to Titus, who far lower, going at a snail's pace forward. "You okay there Titus?"

"Can't talk… must concentrate…! Wah!" Titus nearly slipped off the broom before quickly correcting his grip. Hitsugaya hung around long enough to make sure the boy wouldn't fall off before he left. Hitsugaya flew around, doing some dives and swift turns, trying out the limits of the broom that would shudder under him every time he tried to make it fly faster.

"Okay everybody, down!" Madam Hooch shouted after half an hour of free flying. "Very good children! I see everyone's in one piece and that's good. Some of you show some real promise, keep at it and you might make it to the Quidditch team in the upcoming years. After you've taken your brooms to the shed, you may go to your dormitories" They took the brooms to their holding place in a surprisingly orderly manner, with minimal quarrels with the Slytherins before they started walking towards the castle.

"I'm so glad that's over." Titus sighed.

"It's funny how I always thought you're the calm one." Owen remarked, earning himself a glare. "But man Toushiro, you good at everything, aren't you?" He turned his attention Hitsugaya who stayed silent; he didn't really know what to say.

"Pft, he didn't even like flying!" Euan said, seemingly angry for Hitsugaya's lack of interest towards something he had been sure would impress the muggle born. Hitsugaya shook his head; there was no way to explain to them that he loved flying without slipping something that would hint them that something was amiss. After all, he was supposedly muggle born and who would believe that flying in an aeroplane was more enjoyable than flying with a broom? While it was more comfortable, it didn't give the same kind of rush as feeling the wind against your skin as you fly freely through the skies… Just like flying with a broom couldn't possibly top flying with one's own wings.

The other boys kept talking about flying as Hitsugaya tuned them out and thought about the possibilities involving all that he had learned so far. None of the spells that he knew now would be of help to him when the war against Aizen. Sure, he knew how to set things on fire now, and could light the bastard's robes, but other than serving as comic relief he doubted it would have any effect. But maybe he could have Euan teach him that jelly legs curse… If it wouldn't be effective against Aizen, it would at least help him solving the problem of Matsumoto running away from the office. Nodding to himself, Hitsugaya decided that the idea was just too good to pass by.

On Wednesday evening Hitsugaya found himself sitting in the library. Euan had shown him the library when he had asked where the boy had learned the jelly-legs jinx. After that he had found himself visiting the place a lot more often, going through books like none one else in the castle. Or at least that's what the librarian had told him. At first she had been very suspicious of him, inspecting every book after he had read them, but after finding absolutely nothing to comment on she had seemingly accepted him as a fellow book lover. And it had only taken him a day to earn her respect as she had noticed him smoothing pages and taking misplaced books to their correct places.

Potter had seemed to get in trouble once again as on Tuesday evening Hitsugaya had disbelievingly witnessed the boy disappear inside the pink nightmare that was Umbridge's office. After wondering whether the boy was an idiot or a masochist, he had decided to do something constructive with his time and had then started his library marathon. Euan, Titus and Owen had once tried to pry the book from his hands and get him to play soccer with them outside. Madam Pince had driven them out and scolded them for disturbing other, diligent students. And Hitsugaya had been grateful. But he knew he had to make amends for the other boys later; possibly by helping them with their potions essays.

Hitsugaya sat in the library until Madam Pince informed him that it was time to leave, but that he could take the book with him, if he promised to bring it back the next day. Knowing the drill, Hitsugaya nodded and thanked her, heading towards the Gryffindor common room. As he entered, he was immediately attacked by his roommates.

"Damn you, Toushiro! I got three scratches from that woman on my arm! You should have just come with us!" Euan said as he showed the marks left by the woman's nails to Hitsugaya, who examined them with passive eyes.

"Seriously though, you keep ditching us." Titus said. Hitsugaya shrugged and sat down, putting the book on the table. Owen looked at the cover.

"'_Non-verbal magic; when the cat gets your tongue' _isn't this something around sixth year material of something like that?" Hitsugaya shrugged, he had no idea.

"How'd you even get your hands on this?" Titus asked as he examined the book.

"It was in the wrong shelf, among the first year books. I thought I'd read it before telling Madam Pince about it." He said and took the book back; if the other boy accidentally caused some harm on the book the librarian would probably blame him and not let him step his foot inside the library again. And that was something he didn't want to happen.

"I don't get how you can read so much, I mean, don't your eyes start hurting after a while?" Euan asked, taking a seat next to Hitsugaya and taking cards out of his pocket.

"I'm used to it." Hitsugaya stuffed the book inside his school bag; if Euan decided to start playing exploding snap, it was better to have the book out of harm's way.

"Used to, huh? Didn't you have friends back home?" Hitsugaya glared at the boy.

"I did, I mean, do." Sort of. Not really though. After Kusaka's death there really hadn't been a person he considered a friend. Hinamori was like a sister to him, as was Matsumoto, even though Matsumoto was also his vice-captain and sort of a mentor. She had, after all explained to him what was happening to him all those years ago… And on a level, he still looked up to her, even though he had surpassed her in rank. But she was probably the closest thing to a friend he currently had. The other captains he considered just as that; people who shared his rank and were to be respected for their achievements (even if they forgot to do so in return). Well, Ukitake was maybe an exception; he was like a fussy uncle at times. And Unohana, she genuinely seemed to care for everyone, and not only because it was her job either.

But they still weren't his friends. Then there were the outsiders, Kurosaki and his group. Kurosaki was dead set on being on friendly terms and Hitsugaya was dead set on being just acquaintances and corrected the boy whenever he called Hitsugaya by his given name. Out of outsiders only Orihime Inoue got away with calling him by his given name. And that was only because it didn't sound as purposeful when she said it. It was just who she was and she wasn't really affiliated with Soul Society so she wouldn't have to call him by his rank. Although he would prefer it if she did.

"Uhh, anyways, anyone up for some Exploding Snap?" They all nodded and Euan dealt the cards. They played for a couple hours before the other boys left for the dormitories. Hitsugaya stayed in the common room, noticing Weasley and Hermione by the fireplace, obviously waiting for the third member of their little group. He took the library book from his bag and started reading once again. It was way more interesting that the first year level books. A lot more useful too. If he only could read the higher level text books, he'd probably learn something even more useful. Hitsugaya let out an inaudible sigh and engrossed himself in the book.

Only after the clock was ticking nearer to midnight and everyone else except for him and the prefects (who were sending anxious looks in his direction, clearly wanting him to leave before Potter came back), did Hitsugaya close the book and head towards the dormitories. Feeling two sets of eyes following him, he made the effort to actually walk all the way up the stair to the room that he shared with the four other boys. But instead of going in, he simply opened and shut the door and then headed silently back down. He looked around the corner to make sure the only other occupants in the room didn't see him as he made his way behind another chair, in a dark corner where he was out of sight, yet well within an ear shot of the two. After making sure that he wasn't visible, Hitsugaya opened the book and settled down, waiting for Potter to make his appearance.

Around half past midnight the portrait hole finally opened and Hitsugaya could hear Harry climb in.

"Harry!" Granger and Weasley were on their feet immediately.

"Oh, hi…" Hitsugaya could hear Potter slumping down on one of the chairs. Judging by the sound of the steps, it was Granger who had made her way over to him.

"Here, I thought you'd need this again."

"Thanks Hermione."

"So was it as bad again? She sure kept you there long." Weasley said.

"She always does. That disgusting toad woman…" Hitsugaya heard the boy hiss as he obviously dibbed his hand into a dish that was probably filled with the same liquid that Hitsugaya had seen Granger offer to him once before.

"Yeah, she's a horrible, horrible woman!" Granger agreed. "And a terrible teacher." Hitsugaya nodded his agreement in his hiding place. Never once had they touched a wand in her classes and it seemed they had been reading some sort of ministry safety manual concerning the usage of spells rather than actually learning about the Defense Against the Dark Arts. "You know, me and Ron were actually talking about that and came up with an idea… Okay so _I _had an idea!" It didn't take a genius to guess that Weasley had denied his involvement in whatever was to follow Granger's little introduction.

"…What kind of an idea?"

"That if she refuses to teach us we should just you know, do it ourselves."

"…Do what ourselves?"

"Learn Defense Against the Dark Arts!" Granger said.

"Well sure, that sounds good. How do you suggest we go about it?"

"Well, we'll need someone to teach us of course…" Weasley put in, seemingly now more eager to participate in the conversation when Potter had approved of the idea. It was little wonder that the boy was a bit jumpy around Potter; the prophecy boy had been in a foul mood for a long time, Hitsugaya having witnessed several temper tantrums during his stalking sessions.

"Someone who knows these things…"

"Someone with experience when it comes to dueling…"

"…Wait wait wait. If you're talking about Lupin I seriously doubt that he could come here to teach us in secret. Maybe during Hogsmeade weekends but-" Hitsugaya blinked. Hogsmeade? Lupin? What and who were they? Before Potter had time to continue however, Granger interrupted him.

"No, of course we aren't talking about Lupin! I mean, even if we could see him during Hogsmeade weekends, it wouldn't be nearly often enough to actually learn something. Besides, I'm pretty sure Lupin is busy with the order."

"Then who are you talking about?" Potter asked, his voice warning of a patience that was running thin.

"You!" Both of the prefects said together.

"Me?"

"Yes, you Harry! You're the only one who has faced You-Know-Who and lived!" Granger said.

"But I'm not a teacher I-"

"Oh come on Harry! You're best out of all of us in Defence Against the Dart Arts!" Granger said.

"No, I mean you've beaten practically in every test-"

"No, I haven't." It could be just his opinion, but it sounded to Hitsugaya like the girl was actually accusing Potter.

"Huh?"

"You beat me when Lupin was teaching us, remember?"

"…"

"Besides, this isn't about test results! You've done so much!" Granger said.

"She's right, you know. You've faced You-Know-Who, let's see, four times and lived. And you killed that Basilisk as well as fought off about a hundred of those Dementor's!" Weasley said, sounding slightly excited.

"Look, I know what I've done but there was a lot of luck involved and you helped me as well and- Stop grinning at me like that!" His patience had seemingly worn out for now. Hitsugaya could hear the bowl fly to the ground, shattering and sending the liquid inside it flying on the floor.

"You have no idea what it's like! It's not like I just memorized a bunch of spells and threw them at him! So don't assume that it's like being in a classroom where there's no real threat! You know nothing of it! None of it! It's not like I was just smart enough to stay alive and that Diggory was stupid so he died! Most of it was-"

"Whoa whoa whoa, Harry! That's not what we were saying!" Weasley cut off. Which was kind of a shame; Hitsugaya had just felt his curious side raise its head as he listened to Potter vent. The boy made some good points too and he was little impressed that a semi-ordinary school boy knew so much about real battles. "What we meant was that…that…!" It seemed Weasley didn't have a way with words, but luckily he had a friend who did.

"Harry, what we meant was that that's just what we need! We _don't_ know what it's like and you _do_! And we need someone like that…! Someone who knows what it's really like to face V-Voldemort..!" A long silence followed that and Hitsugaya guessed that her saying the actual name had some value. When no one talked, the girl let out a sigh and continued.

"Look Harry, it was just an idea. You don't have to answer yet but please, please consider it! Will you consider it?"

"…Yeah… I'll think about it."

"Thank you, Harry." The silence was broken by the sound of someone, probably Potter, sitting down and sighing. "Well, I think I'm going to bed, goodnight." And Granger left the room, heading towards the girls' dormitories. Right after she left, Hitsugaya could hear someone else rising up.

"I'm going too. You coming Harry?"

"Yeah, I'll just clean up first. You go ahead." Hitsugaya curled to small ball to make sure the tall boy wouldn't catch a glimpse of him as he passed by. Hitsugaya could hear Potter sigh and mutter the repairing spell. Then the boy followed his friend upstairs, leaving Hitsugaya alone in the common room. He slowly rose from his hiding place and looked around the common room. The rug in front of the fire place was soaked from the liquid that had been in the once broken bowl. The odd smell of it was spreading throughout the room and Hitsugaya scrunched his nose; he did not envy the poor soul who had to clean it.

Turning on his heels, Hitsugaya followed the two upperclassmen's example and headed to the dormitories. When he reached the room, he silently made his way to his bed, changed his clothes and drew the curtains shut. He took Hyorinmaru from its hiding place and lay down on his back, his arms behind his head. He thought about what he had just heard.

There were lots of things he'd have to ask from Dumbledore. Who was Lupin? What was the order the Granger had mentioned? And what was a Dementor? And of course he shouldn't forget about Sirius Black. And if Harry decided to accept the offer thrown to him, how would Hitsugaya be able to supervise the boy? Stalking wasn't enough anymore, he needed to get closer to the boy. And that night, he came up with a plan that for now, had little risk to it.

Next morning found Hitsugaya walking towards the Great Hall for breakfast with his roommates. The other boys were chatting eagerly about something but Hitsugaya ignored whatever they were saying; he had a more important task at hand. He looked around the other people going down the hallway until he saw his target.

"I'll catch up with you later." He said to Titus before adding to his speed. He could feel the others' questioning looks at his back as he approached the fifth year students.

"Excuse me, Granger-san?" The trio stopped and turned to look at him, all of them quite surprised to see him. Once Granger got over her surprise she smiled warmly at him.

"Good morning Toushiro! Can I help you with something?" She asked. Hitsugaya's gaze briefly flickered to the other two standing behind her.

"Well yes, actually, I was wondering whether you would be willing to tutor me." She blinked. "I heard that you're the best in your class so I thought I'd ask you." He quickly added, hoping that the subtle praise would help. The girl looked genuinely pleased with his words but was still visibly hesitating.

"Tutor you… But aren't you studying an awful lot already?" She asked.

"That's right! He was there just yesterday…" He heard Weasley say. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"I read other than school books too you know. And I'm having some trouble with the language, being from Japan and all. And well, when you said that if we'd need help with everything I really thought you meant everything, but I understand that if it was _a lie _then…" He used all the acting skills he had to make himself look very dejected and started to turn away.

"Oh, wait Toushiro!" She grabbed his shoulder, halting him. "I… I'll do it. Just, I can't really tutor you more than twice a week tops, but if that's okay with you then I'll do it."

Hitsugaya was so relieved that his plan had succeeded that he didn't even need to fake the smile he gave her. It seemed that his smile made her sure she was doing the right thing as she seemed to calm a little and smiled back. "Thank you very much, Granger-san."

"San?" He heard Weasley asked Potter, who merely shrugged.

"I told you to call me Hermione, H-e-r-m-i-o-n-e. Try it." Hitsugaya frowned. He really had wished to avoid saying her name, it sounded so hard.

"Hermy- Hermione-san." He said, feeling himself blush. The name was really hard to say. Hermione smiled and nodded, happy to hear him finally call her by her given name.

"So when would you like to have our first lesson?" She asked.

"Whenever it is okay with you."

"Okay then, how about tomorrow, let's see… When was your Quidditch practice again?" She asked Weasley and Potter. Potter frowned; he was in detention for the whole week once again so her question only reminded he was once again missing out on the "fun".

"Tomorrow. Six o'clock." Weasley answered.

"That good for you?" Hitsugaya nodded. "Then I'll see you then in the common room." She said and he nodded again, before he bowed shortly to her.

"Thank you for your trouble…Hermione-san." She beamed at him and bowed back to his great surprise.

"Not at all, Toushirou-san." And then she, Potter and Weasley left. He heard the boys question him about the "san" and she started explaining them about Japanese honorifics. Hitsugaya stood there for a while before he looked over his shoulder. He had felt eyes on him all the time and now was met by seven pairs of eyes. Euan, Owen and Titus had been joined by Connor, Andrew, Ella and Jenny and all of them were looking at him, whispering to themselves. Hitsugaya felt annoyed as he walked to the group.

"What?" He asked them. Connor snorted and left with Andrew on his heels.

"So, what did you talk to them about?" Euan asked.

"Nothing. Why?"

"No reason."

"Hn." Hitsugaya turned and started towards the Great Hall. The rest of the group followed him. He felt quite satisfied that the first part of his plan had worked so well. Now he just had to concentrate on phase two…

_**End of chapter 9**_

Phew… Finally got this done!

Writing another fic really helped to get past my writer's block. And I also watched a lot of bleach, including some fillers, which I usually avoid to the best of my abilities… Speaking of fillers, have you seen the one where Hitsugaya is a Wolfman? He's SO cute! And he looks so proud when he knows how to shake! That was probably the best filler ever!

So anyway, why did this take me so long?

Because I've got the worst luck with just about everything. I had trouble deciding what to put in this chapter and ended up deleting it completely a couple of times. Then I broke a couple of my fingers and then nearly chopped a piece of my finger. And there has been some other problems too but I won't ramble about those right now. It'd be a long story.

But I digress…

Finally we've started to get somewhere! Hitsugaya's trying to get Harry through his friends now… fufufufufuu… He's so evil! And he quilted Hermione to give him lessons, such a bad, bad boy!

So, like always, tell me what you thought about this chapter, I look forward to hearing from you all!

-Pureya


	10. Chapter 10

Summary: When Voldemort's return creates a problem for both worlds, Hitsugaya is sent to deal with the problem. Hitsugaya, now a first year student must follow the fifth year Potter boy, find the dark lord and kill him before things get out of hand.

Time line: Fifth book and sometime after Aizen's betrayal.

Notes: My first crossover, hope you like it .  
**Taichou** means captain  
**Soutaichou** means captain-commander  
**Shinigami **means death reaper  
**Seireitei** is where the shinigami reside  
**Soul Society** consists of Seireitei and the different districts where other souls reside  
**Reiatsu** means spiritual pressure  
**Reiryoku** means spiritual energy  
**Shihakushō** is the whole attire that the Shinigami wear (Garment of dead souls)

**Warnings:** SPOILER WARNINGS! There will be spoilers on Harry Potter books and some on Bleach. Although I'll try to write so that there won't be anything that'd reveal what has already happened in the manga, that hasn't happened in the anime, since not everyone reads the manga. Other warnings, well, there might be some spelling errors, watch out for those!

I will use OCs in this story, but they will NOT have significant parts. They are there just to support the plot.

I will NOT be pairing Hitsugaya with anyone. But he'll have probably have fans.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Bleach. Harry Potter is the creation of J.K. Rowling and Bleach is the creation of Tite Kubo. I am writing this fanfic for entertainment only and am not making any money with this fic.

**Chapter 10**

It had been two weeks since Hitsugaya started receiving tutoring lessons from Hermione and things had started looking good for Hitsugaya. He had slowly but surely won the trust of his first rather reluctant tutor and because of his new nerd reputation most of his self—proclaimed friends left him alone most of the time. This of course left him with more time to stalk Potter freely and now it wasn't all that bad if he was spotted either, since he could always just act that he had something to ask from Hermione.

The only thing that hadn't gone like Hitsugaya had hoped was meeting Dumbledore. The old man had refused to meet Hitsugaya when he had requested to see him for information. It seemed that Dumbledore was making some trips outside the school and Hitsugaya was curious about those too, but it seemed like his questions had to wait for a while longer. So while he waited for the old wizard to make some time for him, Hitsugaya had used the little spare time he had for training and writing weekly reports to Seireitei. His reports were beginning to be rather lengthy, as he had tried to include just about everything he had learned about the school (he really should have just sent the book "Hogwarts; a History" but he was sure that madam Pince would notice the book missing from the library and Hitsugaya didn't want to be on the receiving end of her wrath) and of course, info about the ghosts. Or imprints, as they were rather than ghosts or plus souls.

And finally, it seemed that the Research and Development Bureau were earning their pay. Well, with the help of the Kidō Corps. Hitsugaya was willing to bet a whole week's worth of paperwork that Kurotsuchi was livid for not getting all the credit this time.

Hitsugaya smirked as he held the scroll in his hands. He was currently sitting by a large tree near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, having just finished de-frosting the results of his training. Hyorinmaru was leaning against his shoulder, rumbling loudly inside his mind. The dragon did not appreciate the amount of time it got to spent with Hitsugaya and Hitsugaya himself couldn't agree more. So he had taken to sneaking out to the forest during the week as well. The owls that brought him the scroll hooted at him from their perch on the tree.

"I know, I know. I'll bring the bacon after breakfast, okay?" He said to the birds, who ruffled their feathers at him before flying towards the castle. Hitsugaya looked up to the skies. "Still a couple of hours before sunrise… That's plenty." Hitsugaya carefully opened the seal and spread the scroll on the ground. After a moment of studying the scroll Hitsugaya sighed. This was going to be a hard task to accomplish alone. Hitsugaya skimmed over the text, making mental notes of all the things he would have prepare for. First of all, he would have to find a good location. Someplace where the air wasn't full of magic yet possessed enough of it for the imprint to "exist" in its natural, magical form. The location would have to be a clean open area so Hitsugaya would be able to write the incantation on the ground to make the Enforced Soul Burial strong enough alone.

The other requirements were of course that he had to put up a barrier so no one would see him, another one so no one would get affected by the amount of reiatsu he was going to have to release to bury the soul and possibly a third one just to make sure that nobody could get inside the incantation circle and get their soul sucked out accidentally. Hitsugaya scratched his head. This konsō would definitely be easier to execute with four or five Shinigami. But he was a Captain so this much was expected from him. And he would not fail.

But still, how the hell was he supposed to do this?

* * *

Next day after classes Hitsugaya found himself walking around the school grounds, trying to find a place for the Enforced Soul Burial. Potter was doing his homework in the common room last Hitsugaya had seen him. The white haired boy had dared to leave the prophecy boy in the care of Hermione who was looking over Potter and his red haired friend as they worked. Last time Hitsugaya had observed them at it the whole homework process had taken hours until Hermione had deemed the boys' work worthy. So Hitsugaya had decided to use this chance to look around the castle grounds some more.

'The Quidditch field would probably be big enough… But if the konsō does any damage to it people are going to start asking questions…' Hitsugaya sighed as he mentally crossed over any place that was in regular use. Hitsugaya wondered if there even was a secluded place on school grounds. He could ask Hermione of course, the girl seemed to know just about everything about the school and everything else. But if he asked something like that from the girl, she'd want to know why he asked something like that in the first place. That was something Hitsugaya didn't really appreciate in the girl: she was as nosy as Matsumoto. So in the end, Hitsugaya would just have to wait until he could ask Dumbledore or figure out something by himself.

After walking around the school grounds a little more, Hitsugaya gave up for the day and sat down under a tree that was next to the lake. He absentmindedly picked up a rock and threw it into the lake, a little further than your average 11 year-old should be able to throw but he was too frustrated to worry about such things right now. A single tentacle rose above the surface and for a brief moment it looked like the infamous Giant Squid of Hogwarts was shaking a fist at him before it sunk again into the depths of the water.

After the waves created by the Squid had died and the surface was smooth again Hitsugaya laid down, looking at the lake. It was very pretty how the sky was reflected on the glistening water surface. He wondered how it would look in the winter, and if the student's were allowed to skate on the frozen surface. That was if the lake would even freeze over. The Giant Squid seemed like something that liked to pop up every now and then and wouldn't appreciate being trapped underneath the ice. But still… The lake would be very pretty if it froze. 'Like a vast skating rink… Wait a minute.'

With a start Hitsugaya stood up and looked around. The lake! It would be perfect! He could freeze it temperately for the Soul Burial. He looked towards the castle. The distance was just enough that if he used a bit of Hyorinmaru's ability to manipulate the weather and produce some mist no one would be able to see anything that happened at the lake even if they happened to look out the window at the right time. Hitsugaya felt a smirk tugging at his mouth and started towards the castle. Just as he was going to enter the great building he felt something falling on his head and get stuck on his hair. Running a hand through his hair his fingers wrapped around a small letter and as he looked up he saw an owl screech at him before it flew towards the Owlery. Deciding to ignore the rude bird Hitsugaya opened the letter and read it.

_The office  
at midnight_

The neat handwriting was easy to recognize as Dumbledore's. Hitsugaya nodded to himself, feeling his smirk widen to an actual smile. Things were really looking up today. He could only hope that things would continue going the same way.

After Hitsugaya made it to the Gryffindor common room he quickly scanned the room to find Hermione, Potter and Weasley still sitting around the fireplace, just like hours before when he had left the room. Without any thought he made his way to the fireplace and threw the letter from Dumbledore into the flames, looking as the paper first turned black before turning into ashes. Nodding to himself he started to make his way to his bedroom.

"Oh, Toushiro!" Hitsugaya paused and turned around to face Hermione.

"Yes?"

"I was wondering whether we could do the tutoring lesson tomorrow at five?" She asked. Hitsugaya nodded, noticing that Potter and Weasley both glanced at the fire and then at him. Hitsugaya smirked, 'So curious, aren't you?' he thought to himself, enjoying the fact that neither of the two seemed to be willing to brave asking him what it all was about.

"Sure. At the library?" Hermione nodded. "See you there then." He said and turned to leave, but not before he heard Weasley whisper to the other two teens "Wonder what the letter was about…"

* * *

When night came Hitsugaya didn't waste a second when he left the Gryffindor common room and headed for the Headmaster's office. His good luck continued and the road was blissfully free of students, professors and Peeves. In a matter of minutes Hitsugaya was already knocking on Dumbledore's door and was invited in.

"Ah, Hitsugaya-san, I'm glad you could make it with such a short notice." The elderly man said with a smile as Hitsugaya sat down on his usual seat.

"Let's just skip the pleasantries today, Dumbledore-san. We are both far too busy these days for chit-chat. I have some questions I'd like to ask."

"Of course, go ahead."

"First, who is Sirius Black? I heard some rumors that say he is after Potter's life, but if that is the case I fail to see why he is being contacted by Potter." Dumbledore smiled.

"Oh no, Sirius is Harry's Godfather, currently on the run from the law for a crime he did not commit but is still falsely accused for. He definitely isn't after Harry's life. Quite on the contrary, he told me he wishes to find Voldemort quickly so he can finally come out of hiding and then live with Harry. Harry, to my knowledge, shares this wish." Hitsugaya nodded, even though the answer left him with even more questions. Like what kind of crime the man was accused of? Who was actually behind the crimes? But these questions held no relevance to his mission for now, so he decided against asking them in favor of asking about other, more pressing matters.

"That is good to know. For future relevance, if there are other people aside from Voldemort and his followers that aim to kill Potter, I'd like to know." Dumbledore nodded.

"Naturally."

"On to the next question: I heard Potter and his friends mentioning an order?"

"I apologize, I must have forgotten to mention the name of our little resistance group when I discussed about Voldemort with Kentaro. The Order of Phoenix. That is what we call ourselves, we as in the people who know about the return of Voldemort and are taking action against him. All of this in secret of course, the Ministry doesn't acknowledge Voldemort's return yet so they wouldn't let us act freely if they knew of our regrouping."

"Regrouping?"

"Ah, yes. Most of the people in the Order are the same who fought against Voldemort fifteen years ago. We went by the same name then as well."

"I see. Exactly what does the Order do, then?"

"We try to find out Voldemort's plans and stop them, of course. We have men working inside the ministry and one is working undercover with the Death Eaters and other followers of Voldemort."

"Wait. If you have a man working right under Voldemort's nose, how come you don't know where he is?" Hitsugaya straightened in his chair. Had the old man been keeping him in the dark all this time? And if so, what for?

"The situation is a bit delicate. You see, the one working under Voldemort as a spy for us is Severus Snape." Hitsugaya blinked.

"…As in Professor Snape?"

"That is correct."

"…How does that pose a problem, exactly? Can't he just tell me the place where Voldemort is so I can go there and deal with the problem?" Dumbledore sighed and leaned back in his chair.

"I'm afraid that things are far too complicated to do that. This is actually why I wanted to meet you today. I have some new information that I believe will be very vital if you wish to succeed in your mission. But first, let me explain the situation with Severus." Hitsugaya nodded, trusting that Dumbledore wouldn't bother him with useless information.

"Once, Severus was an actual Death Eater, but after Harry's mother Lily was murdered he had a change of heart. You see, Severus loved her dearly. But, once a Death Eater has been marked by the Dark Mark there is no way to get rid of it so he has been branded forever as a follower of Voldemort. The Dark Mark is Voldemort's way to communicate with the Death Eaters. When he wishes to meet them, the Marks send burning sensations to their owners and the Death Eaters are expected to Apparate by Voldemort's side. Oh, Apparating is a way of traveling instantly to one place or another." Dumbledore quickly explained after seeing Hitsugaya's quizzical expression.

"Unfortunately, Lord Voldemort is not a stupid man. He has realized that Severus' position as a teacher is more important than him taking part in all of their meetings. So, to keep up his pretense of being my follower, he is excused from these meetings and thus does not know the exact location of Voldemort. He exchanges information through other methods and rarely reports straight to Voldemort himself. But from what I have learned of Voldemort's meeting places, they are never the same. He is still being cautious, using the Ministry's denial to his advantage by moving in the shadows. "

"I still don't see a real problem here. If Snape knows where and when he is supposed to Apparate, then he could just tell me and send me there and I could just get my mission done and over with." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and Hitsugaya just knew that the old man was going to indulge himself to another streak of curiosity over Hitsugaya's life.

"Why, are you not enjoying your stay in school?" Dumbledore asked. Hitsugaya rolled his eyes.

"I'd enjoy it far more if there were no other students and I could act my age. Besides, I have a war to prepare for and I doubt a jelly-legs jinx is enough to make my foes fall." Hitsugaya answered dryly. Dumbledore chuckled at his response. "Now I'd like to hear the real reason you are holding me from my work, if you don't mind."

"Of course, of course." Dumbledore took a deep breath and his eyes turned serious. "Do you remember when I told you about the link between Harry's and Voldemort's minds?" Hitsugaya nodded. Dumbledore had mentioned of the possibility of Voldemort being able to insert suggestions to the teen's mind the first night Hitsugaya stayed at the castle. "Well, I was afraid that there was more behind this phenomena and I'm sad to say that my greatest fears have been confirmed." Dumbledore rose from his seat and started pacing slowly while he let a hand run through his long beard.

"I suppose you do not know what Horcruxes are?" Dumbledore asked and Hitsugaya shook his head. The word sounded alien to him. "Horcruxes are considered to be among the most vile and evil of the magical inventions. They aren't even mentioned in most books, not even those with the most dangerous spells. Few wizards even know what they are."

"…So what are these… Horcruxes…?"

"Horcruxes are used to contain a piece of a person's soul." Hitsugaya eyes narrowed.

"A piece of a person's soul…? Splitting a soul in pieces is pure madness! It's inhumane!" He said, shaking his head. He had a bad feeling about this conversation. Soul splitting should be impossible among humans… but then again Wizards couldn't be classified as normal humans now could they? But Yamamoto had his men watching over the area and the wizarding world… did he know of these abilities? Had he just ignored it?

Dumbledore nodded, agreeing with Hitsugaya's words. "Indeed, that is why it is banned among us. However, there will always be those who do not wish to have such abilities and inventions forgotten, and so the knowledge to do such horrific things still exists among us."

"And you believe that Voldemort has used this method."

"Yes, that would explain him surviving the killing curse. Other things have happened that make me believe that I am right. Three years ago Voldemort materialized from a diary; at the time I didn't realize it but now I am almost certain that that diary was one of his Horcruxes."

"What happened to the diary?"

"It has been destroyed by Harry with the help of a Basilisk's venom." Hitsugaya nodded, it didn't matter that he had no idea what a Basilisk was, the important thing was that the Horcrux had been destroyed.

"What happened to the soul fragment?"

"I do not know. I'm not expert in this field of magic and the matters of afterlife are still a mystery to me. I was actually hoping that you could shed some light on this matter." Hitsugaya shook his head.

"I'm still fairly young by Shinigami standards, so I haven't had the time to review all the records in our archive, but so far I haven't read of a case like this. Then again, your society was kept a secret from other than the Captain-Commander's troops, so I wouldn't be surprised if the records were kept secret as well. I'll make some inquiries."

"I'd appreciate that, Hitsugaya-san." Hitsugaya nodded.

"Do you think there is more than one of these Horcruxes?"

"Most definitely. I have known Voldemort before he came the Dark Lord, and he was a complex young man who was scared of his own mortality. He would not settle for one or two Horcrux."

"How many do you think there are?"

"I do not know. I'm still gathering more information on the matter. But what I am sure of is that you cannot kill Lord Voldemort if you do not get rid of the Horcruxes first. I'm close to finding one, but then there is the problem with destroying it." Hitsugaya blinked.

"Can you use the same method as with the diary? The… Basilisk's… venom?"

"No, I'm afraid the basilisk is dead and finding another one would be both difficult and suicidal. But we need something as powerful as the venom. Horcruxes are powerful magical items; they can only be destroyed by the strongest spells and weapons." Dumbledore looked at Hitsugaya and a realization hit him.

"You wish for me to destroy the Horcruxes." Dumbledore nodded, spreading his arms and smiling almost a bittersweet smile.

"What stronger power is there than that of death itself?" Hitsugaya wanted to point out that he was more of a guide than a "death bringer" but didn't mention it for now.

"I understand. It can't be helped anyway; it's what has to be done to finish my mission." _Besides, Hyorinmaru could do with a bit of a challenge for a change._

"Hyorinmaru?" Hitsugaya blinked, had he just said that out loud?

"My Zanpaktō."

"Zanpaktō?" Hitsugaya sighed. The man was just too curious. However, the said man was also working hard to help maintaining the balance in the Wizarding world while also assisting Soul Society on a matter that they totally lacked experience on. So Hitsugaya decided to be patient and answer the questions he felt that were safe to answer.

"A Zanpaktō is a Shinigami's trademark weapon. There are no two Zanpaktō exactly the same, because a Zanpaktō reflects the soul and the strength of the Shinigami, while still being their own sentient beings. It's… rather hard to explain clearly without going into details. And before you ask, no, I can't go into details." Dumbledore smiled widely when Hitsugaya predicted his question.

"Such a shame that you can't reveal anything about the afterlife, I've always been fascinated by life after death and here you are, a death god standing before me and I'm not allowed to know any crucial information!" Hitsugaya shook his head.

"Just remember it is for your own good. Nothing good comes from trying to cheat death or from breaking the rules of nature itself. Curiosity is allowed, just in healthy proportions. After all, without the curiosity of human kind the evolution of it would have long since come to a stop." _Of course then it would be easier to blend in with the crowd, not having to figure out how a juice box works…_ Hitsugaya thought, remembering some of the "challenges" the Shinigami had come to meet during missions in the real world.

"Wise words, Hitsugaya-san, truly wise words. From what I heard from Harry it seems that splitting his soul has left Lord Voldemort looking less like a human as well."

"I'd expect it to. A soul is even more important than the heart, since it is the only thing that crosses to the other side, there is no way there wouldn't be consequences after splitting it. "But how does this all connect to Potter?" Dumbledore looked older and more tired than Hitsugaya had ever seen him as he sighed heavily.

"I'm afraid that Harry is a Horcrux." A stunned silence followed this statement. Hitsugaya mentally cursed, realizing just how hard killing Voldemort became. If he had to destroy all Horcruxes before dealing a killing blow to Voldemort, it meant killing Harry Potter. And that of course, was out of the question.

"…Do you know of a way to do this without me having to kill Potter?" He asked Dumbledore who slowly shook his head.

"I'm afraid I know nothing for certain. If I am correct and if there are now in fact two souls, or rather a soul and a fragment inhibiting Harry's body, I would guess that killing him once could possibly still leave him with a soul so that he wouldn't actually die."

"That's a lot of guessing."

"I agree. That is why this is taking so long. I'd rather be sure before doing anything drastic that could end a child's life." Hitsugaya nodded. Now that he had all this new information, he wasn't too keen to use unnecessary haste either.

"I should let you know that our laws forbid us from killing mortals. If Harry is truly is a Horcrux and needs to be murdered in order for Voldemort to die, I cannot do it." Hitsugaya said.

"So you do not consider Voldemort a mortal then?"

"His case has been trialed separately. He has disturbed the ultimate balance of the world and is to be punished accordingly." Hitsugaya said.

"But others have used the killing curse, why single out Voldemort?"

"It is rather a stupid reason really. From what I've been informed, Voldemort has exceeded his limit of allowed murders by the killing curse." Hitsugaya's statement was followed by a long silence. Dumbledore's face darkened ever so slightly when he finally responded.

"…Allowed murders?" Hitsugaya nodded.

"It sounds rather bad, doesn't it? I have to clear something for you; even though we are called Death Gods, we do not distribute death. We let the world flow at its own pace and then guide the souls of the dead to Soul Society, so they can be reborn when it is their time. I assure you that if we were allowed to snatch the souls that we think are rotten at will, the world would be a better place. However that isn't the case and we must maintain the balance of the living world and Soul Society." He looked up to see if Dumbledore was still following and the old man hummed and motioned for Hitsugaya to continue with his explanation.

"You already know that the killing curse gives us a hard time. The reason for this is that the souls aren't quite complete after the killing curse has been used. It takes a lot of work to complete an incomplete soul so that it can be inserted back to the natural flow of life and let it be reborn. It can take up to months, actually. We don't really appreciate the extra work, but because we have a small group specializing in this, the Soul Society's top decision makers decided that we can overlook this crime against nature. As long as it stays within reasonable boundaries."

"And Lord Voldemort has gone beyond these boundaries now?"

"Actually, his quota was full long ago, but then we got the word of his passing. The first division naturally looked for his spirit but could not find it. So they deduced that he either go eaten by a hollow or became one." Hitsugaya concluded.

"You had no way to know for sure?" Dumbledore asked. Hitsugaya shook his head.

"No. It would be nice if there was some book in which all the dead had their name in and the name would appear there automatically when people pass but unfortunately those names go into files thanks to the hard work some shinigami put into it."

"I see." Dumbledore took a deep breath and released the air shortly after. Hitsugaya noticed the bags under the old man's eyes and figured that he had enough information to go with for now. He didn't want to help an elderly man to an early grave by keeping him up unnecessarily long.

"I suppose this is enough for today. We both have things we need to look into before planning our moves further." Hitsugaya said and stood up. "I'll write to the Soul Society tomorrow and ask them to look into the Horcrux business and see if they can come up with something. I'd like you to find out how many Horcruxes there are in total as soon as possible." Dumbledore nodded and also stood up.

"I shall do just that Hitsugaya-san."

"Good night, Dumbledore-san."

"Good night."

* * *

Hitsugaya sat in the library, waiting for Hermione to come and start today's tutoring lesson. Titus was sitting next to him, working on his History of Magic homework while Hitsugaya helped him as the other boy had yet to master keeping his eyelids open during those particular classes. Titus growled in frustration.

"Seriously, I don't know how you can manage! This is just mind bogglingly boring!" The boy whined. Hitsugaya shrugged.

"I find these things interesting."

"Good thing too, otherwise I'd probably fail…" Hitsugaya nodded. Titus was right, he probably would. Hitsugaya raised his head when he heard hasty steps coming their way. He was just in time to see Hermione walk from behind a bookshelf and making a beeline at their table. She seemed a bit out of breath.

"Oh, Toshiro! Will your friend join us today?" Hermione asked, smiling pleasantly as she took her usual place on Hitsugaya's right side. Titus shut his book and shoved it along with his noted into his bag.

"Nah, I'm going to watch the team practice with the other guys. C'ya later Toshiro!" Titus said and waved at Hitsugaya before he left the library. Hitsugaya nodded at his roommate before turning to Hermione.

"Sorry I'm a little late" She said.

"It's okay."

"So today I thought that we could study some new first year level spells that you haven't learned yet. We'll go over the theory and I thought that next time I see Professor Flitwick I'll ask him if we could use his classroom sometime." Hermione dug into her bag and pulled out several neatly written notes.

"Sounds good." Hitsugaya agreed. Hermione looked at him and then turned to fully face him.

"You know, I really want to ask you something." Hitsugaya blinked. He hesitated only for a second before giving his aswer.

"Go ahead."

"Are you being bullied?" Hitsugaya blinked again. Where the hell had that come from?

"…Excuse me?"

"Are you being bullied?"

"What gives you that idea?" The fact that Hitsugaya didn't outright deny the possibility of being bullied seemed to fuel Hermione's obvious worry over his well being.

"It's just that last night when you tossed that letter to the fire… We, that is Harry, Ron and I, sort of wondered what it all was about. We talked about it a bit and came to the conclusion that that is the most likely option. I mean, this isn't the first time we've seen you do that…" Hitsugaya had to fight his rising amusement so it wouldn't show on his face; he wouldn't want to offend the girl by laughing at her concern over him. Hitsugaya shook his head and smiled a little, hoping to ease the girl's mind.

"That's not it. The letter just contained personal things and I simply didn't wish anyone to see it." He explained. "But thank you for your concern. All of you." Hermione seemed to think a little before believing him but finally she broke to a relieved smile.

"Well I'm glad to hear it wasn't as bad as we thought." She said and Hitsugaya nodded. "Well, if you're ready, we should start now. Today I thought we could look into the charms work a bit more…"

And so they spent the next hour and a half going through some of the first year level charms, practicing the wand movements and incantations without ever applying them both at the same time in case Hitsugaya would accidentally blow up something.

"Good evening, Miss Granger, Mister Hitsugaya." Hitsugaya looked up to see the resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington or Nearly Headless Nick like most called him.

"Good evening Nick." Hermione said and Hitsugaya nodded in greeting to the see-through being..

"I hope I am not interrupting anything?"

"Oh no, I think we're just about done for today, right Toushiro?"

"Right."

"Oh good! I was hoping to speak with you, Mister Hitsugaya." Hitsugaya looked at the ghost. Maybe he wanted to be sent to Soul Society?

"Sure."

"In private, if you'd be so kind." Hitsugaya gathered his things before he stood up and turned to a rather suspicious looking Hermione.

"Thank you for today, Hermione-san. Will you inform me when we'll meet next?" Hermione quickly tried to cover her suspicion with a smile but it didn't fool Hitsugaya who could practically feel the girl's curiosity from where he stood.

"Of course! Well I don't know for sure yet, but sometime next week I think. I'll let you know when after I've figured it out myself. I'll be seeing you in the common room!" Hitsugaya nodded and left the library with Sir Nicholas in tow.

* * *

"Excuse me?" Hitsugaya looked at the ghost before him disbelievingly. He had been led to an empty classroom by the ghost after they had left the library. Hitsugaya had hoped that the dead man had some message from Dumbledore or something of such importance, since all the ghosts had been pretty much avoiding him so far. But the words Sir Nicholas had uttered had taken Hitsugaya completely by surprise.

"I would like to ask you to behead me completely." Hitsugaya stared at the ghost. It seemed that he was being serious with his request. Hitsugaya shook his head.

"I refuse."

"But… But Sir, please! You do not understand!" Hitsugaya looked at the dead man. He seemed devastated at Hitsugaya's refusal. And it totally confused Hitsugaya that someone would like to have their head cut off clean their shoulders.

"No, I don't and I'm quite sure I don't even want to know…"

"But you are my only hope! You have no idea of the suffering being in this state brings to me!"

"It causes you pain?" Hitsugaya blinked. Sir Nicholas fidgeted a little before shaking his head.

"No, not physical pain but the humiliation! It is… It is unbearable! And I can't get accepted to the Headless Hunt if my head is still attached to my body!" Sir Nicholas laid his hands on Hitsugaya's shoulders at the end of his little tirade as the white haired boy looked at the man with something akin to pity.

"I'm sorry, I wish I could help but there is a policy against butchering the dead in Seireitei. And those rules apply no matter where in the world a Shinigami goes." He said dryly and removed the rather heavy hands.

"But… But, no one needs to know! I swear on my honor, Sir! You are my last hope, you who can see and touch us who are dead! I cannot ask mere mortals to finish what they have done so poorly, as their blades and hands go right through me! So I beg of you! Just this once-"

"No."

"But-"

"No. Sir Nicholas, I can't. Do not ask me again. And do not bother me with such petty inquiries again. I'm not here for your convenience. The most I can do for you and any other ghost in here is to help you move on to the afterlife. That is all I am _allowed_ to do to you. And that is all I'm willing to do. Nothing more, nothing less. So if that was all you had to say, I'll be taking my leave now." When Sir Nicholas said nothing, Hitsugaya moved towards the door. As he got nearer he could hear someone running in the corridor. Hitsugaya threw open the door and looked at the end of the corridor just in time to see the end of a black robe disappear behind the corner. Hitsugaya cursed out loud.

Someone had been listening.

_End of Chapter 10_

Phew…. Finally! Right?

Ahh, I'm sorry for the seriously long wait! I just couldn't really get my thoughts on the paper. Or computer. Then I started randomly writing little bits and pieces and started sewing them together and then deleted it all and started over and repeated that like a million times and I'm **still** unhappy with this chapter! And I felt like it's kinda short too.

But I thought it'd be better to give you guys something after people started asking when if I was abandoning the fic. So no worries there people!

Soooo… Who do you think saw and heard Hitsugaya and Nick? And how much trouble do you think it's going to cause to our dear little shinigami?

I love making life a little harder for Toushiro! :D

-Pureya


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